Just Another Human Ninja
by R.J.North
Summary: Alex had just moved in with her aunt after her parents died and her brothers gone missing. She meets the turtles and befriends them. What'll happen when the people come back for her like they took her brothers? She's added into the story line. Part 1 of the Guardian Saga.
1. Better Mousetrap

Chapter 1

"Better Mousetrap"

April and Alex stood off to the side as Baxter Stockman did his interview about the new Mousers. April was his assistant and Alex was a fifteen year old intern. She was also April's niece. She had been living with her aunt for the past couple weeks because her parents had been murdered and her brothers kidnapped. She was the only ones left.

"A wise man once said, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will lead a path to your door." I say let the path fleeting begin. For I, Dr. Baxter Stockman have designed to the city's ever growing rat problem. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you," he said as he reached over and pulled off the sheet of cloth from the new Mouser to show the camera. "The ultimate expression of rodent termination technology, the Stocktronic Mouser!"

The Mousers were little robotic creatures the looked sort of like a T-rex. They had two legs, no arms, a big head and sharp metal teeth. On the top of their heads were a singly yellow light with a camera built in. They were odd looking creations and the creeped Alex out. There was nothing good about them. There was something that Stockman was hiding and it wasn't good.

"My lab assistant Ms. April O'Neil will release several rats into the simulation chamber. April, proceed, my dear." Baxter watched along with Alex as April dropped the rats from the brown box in her hands into the maze.

That was the part Alex's disliked the most. She didn't like to watch, but it wasn't as bad as the night she saw her parents die, but watching the rats get caught by the Mouser made her have flashbacks. They weren't pleasant and it made her wonder if her brothers were okay. What if their fate was worse than her parents?

Stockman knelt down at the entrance and placed the Mouser down. It started too walked through to get the rats. "Now observe the shear genus of my Mouser in action. The Mouser got all the rats while Alex looked away and over to April, who knew she was uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. "And the Mouser's search and retrieval function are all ingeniously controlled by my remote mother computer."

That had been a couple hours ago. April and Alex were sitting at one of the many computers at Stockman labs doing work and watching the interview from earlier that day. Even then, Alex had to look away. She didn't like to see the poor rats get killed. It wasn't humane.

"Oh, this is so great!" April said, pointing to herself on the monitor as the interview played. "My friends, my family will finally see I really work with the Baxter Stockman."

Baxter Stockman had been standing behind them as they worked and watched. He had been watching as well, feeling overly proud about his creation. "You flatter me, Ms. O'Neil. I like that."

_You're such a creep,_ Alex thought. Her attention was drawn to the computer her and April were sitting at. They had been running a test on the Mousers that were in the sewers and something came up.

"Hmm," April said. "That's strange. I was running a routine diagnostic check. Half the Mouser prototypes aren't transmitting. It's like they just vanished." April started to type on the key board that was in front of her while Alex started to do the same, trying to find the missing Mousers.

"Hmm," Baxter said. "I'm sure it's nothing, April. Probably just a computer glitch. I'll have an Assistant Tech. go over it in the morning."

April wasn't really listening. Alex never really listened to him. Sure, he was smart and all, but he was a creep and he really wasn't that great off a person, like April thought. Alex made her opinion of him know to her whenever she got the chance when he wasn't around.

"But what if the Mousers have been tampered with? We should go over all their transmission backups."

April was smart. She knew what she was talking about. Alex knew that was what they had to do. She trusted April's intellect.

Stockman placed his hand on April's shoulder forcefully. "That won't be necessary, April! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm expecting an important call from a very significant financial banker." He turned and walked out of the room. Leaving April and Alex there alone.

After a moment of silence to make sure Stockman was gone and wouldn't hear, Alex said, "I swear that guy is up to something, April. I don't trust him."

"I know what you mean," April said. She placed her hand on her chin, thinking. "But what is he hiding?" April got up from her chair and walked over to the door. "Come on, I'm going to do a little _research_."

April and Alex walked through the many hallways of the building till they got to Baxter Stockman's office. They pressed their ears against the door to try and listen in on the conversation he was having with that "_very-important-financial-banker_."

"The Mousers will be ready what I decide they're ready. My first field test was-" Stockman was cut off by whoever it was he was talking to on the video chat on his computer.

'Was a complete failure!" they said. You could tell the person was a man by his deep raspy voice. They weren't using anything to change the voice or anything. It was their real voice. "I do not tolerate failure!"

"Which is why you'd make a lousy scientist," Stockman retorted. He didn't like it when people said his things were failures. "The test was supposed to any possible design flaws. As a result, I've already updated the Mousers for greater durability. And I assure you, they will perform flawlessly for the next phase of the plan."

"They had better," the other person said. "Dr. Stockman, for your sake."

April quietly gasped at the last part of the man's farewell. Alex motioned for her to follow her back to their lab to continue on with whatever it was they were really supposed to be doing. They didn't want Baxter coming out of his office and seeing them eavesdrop. The least he would do was fire them bother. Although, Alex wasn't even getting paid.

They walked back into the lab and sat down in their chairs in front of their computers. They started to work right away. They could talk about whatever it was they had heard later when they went home for the night. At that moment, they just had to finish up a couple things. Then they could leave.

"Goodnight, April dear," Baxter said as he walked through the door and over to the elevator. "Don't work too late. You know I don't like to pay overtime. Alex, you can stay as late as you want. I'm not paying you."

"Oh, gee, thanks," she muttered to herself. Although, she knew April and Stockman could both hear her clearly. She really didn't care.

"Goodnight, Dr. Stockman," April said.

When Stockman was through the doors, April stood up out of her chair and ran through the doors that Baxter had walked through. Alex was shocked for a moment, but then got up as fast as she could and ran after April. She didn't expect April to run off like that. She caught up to her a moment later, being faster and stronger that April.

Alex as a greater athlete and she make sure to keep up with it. Just because her family was gone didn't mean she had to let herself go. She was pretty and she wanted to keep herself skinny and in shape. The best way to do that, that she knew of, was to work out and continue running and doing martial arts, like her and her brothers did.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked April as she sat down at Baxter's desk.

"Now, let's find out what kind of plan you've been cooking up with those Mousers, Dr. Stockman." April started to type away at the keys while Alex watched the screen, standing behind her.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Alex asked. "I mean, if you get caught you could get fire or go to jail for looking at the stuff on his computer. I'm not saying I don't want to either, but I'm just looking out for you."

"That's sweet, Alex. I can look after myself, though." An icon of what looked to be a foot with three tows popped up on the screen. "I've never seen that icon before," April said. She grabbed the mouse and clicked on it. She moved in front of Alex so she couldn't see what it was. "What is-?"

All of a sudden the bookshelf across the room started to open up from the middle to reveal an elevator to someplace that they had never been to before.

"Should we?" April asked Alex.

"In twenty years do you want to have the right to say that you had the guts to go down the spooky elevator to nowhere?" she asked. "I sure do."

Alex ran up ahead of April and jumped inside. Personally, she really didn't like elevators because she always felt like they were going to fall while she was still in it. She didn't really tell people that though because she knew they would start to jump, which would make her even more uncomfortable.

It seemed like it took forever to get all the way down to the bottom of where the elevator let. April looked over to her niece and smiled as she chuckled out a, "Finally." She wasn't always the most patient person in the world. Alex could understand that, in this predicament, which she wanted to get to the bottom of this.

The doors opened and the two females walked out into a long glass covered hallway. Beneath them you could see a manufacturing line of Mousers being constructed. There were hundreds of them. They were lined up in rows as life there were in quadrants in the military or something.

"I don't care how bad the city's rodent problem is," April said. "This is serious overkill."

April and Alex moved away from the glass and continued to walk down the hallway to see where it went. They went up to a station with computers and monitor everywhere. There had to be something there that would tell them what was going on.

"April," Alex said. "This is seriously wacked up." Alex was looking out the glass again as more and more Mousers were being put together and placed in never ending lines. It seemed like the quantity of them would never end. What could all of them be needed for? There weren't that many rats in the city, like April said before.

April was at a computer looking for answers. "Rat problem my eye," she said. "What are you really up to, Dr. Stockman?" she asked to herself.

"Now, now, Ms. O'Neil," they heard Baxter say from behind them. They both swung around at the voice. "That would be telling." He walked out of another elevator and over to the two stunned and frightened girls. "Suffice it to say that my army of Mousers would make me a very rich and powerful man."

"What aren't you already a very rich and powerful man?" April asked.

The glass behind them started to roll down and Alex seemed to be the only one out of the two to notice. "This isn't good," she muttered to herself. "Don't you know that greed is that inventor of injustice and well as the enforcer?" Alex quoted from Julian Casablancas.

"Ah," he said with a creepy smile. "Ms. O'Neil's, so brilliant yet so nieve. I will truly miss working with you. Especially you, Alex. You're so young and bright."

"What?" asked April. "You mean I'm fired?"

"I couldn't care less," Alex spat.

"In a matter of speaking," Stockman said.

Then, something unexpected happened. Or at least, unexpected to the two girls. Two large claws that had been manufacturing the Mousers grabbed Alex and April, one girl in each. They were brought over to a lone of Mousers and dropped carelessly onto the non-moving conveyor belt.

"I'm afraid I can't let you live, Ms. O'Neil's. You've seen far too much already," Stockman said. He cracked his knuckles and started to type away at the key in front of him. "And let's just say, I have trust issues."

"You have more issues than that, Doctor," yelled Alex.

The Mousers around them started to move their jaws in a munching motion. They all turned to stare at the two girls who were surrounded by them. A couple of them started to walk towards them, getting ready to attack.

April noticed a fire extinguisher on the side in a holder. She quickly ran over to grab it. Alex stayed close to her aunt, afraid of what might happen if she was alone. They'd pick them off one at a time.

"Keep back," she warned one of the robots that walked up to her. "I know how to use things." She pointed the nozzle to it and pressed the handle. The substance came out of the container and covered the robot. When it cleared they could see it had no affect on the Mousers.

The Mouser let out a roaring screech and charged at April. It had only made it angrier, or so it seemed. The things really didn't have any feeling or thought to what they were dong. They were computer run. They weren't living and breathing like April and Alex were.

April swung the fire extinguisher and crushed the head of the Mouser that charged. "Ha!" she yelled. She was feeling pretty accomplished with herself about her defense.

"Don't start celebrating yet, April. There are still more coming," Alex yelled at her relative.

More Mousers came charging at them. April swung again, but this time one of the Mousers caught the extinguisher in its mouth, crushing the bottom of it in its metal jaws. The bottom of it exploded, sending the Mousers back a couple steps. It had given April and Alex the chance to run.

"You can run, Ms. O'Neil's, but you cannot hide from my Mousers!" Baxter yelled.

The haze of chemicals from the fire extinguisher, giving them a cloud of protection for the time being. April pulled a lever that opened a door to the sewers for them to escape to. Or try to, at least. It was their only hope of getting away alive.

They ran out of the factory type basement and blindly out into the sewer. They bother fell into the disgusting, brown water in the middle of the tunnels. They quickly stood up as fast as they could and ran off in one direction together. They had to stick together in hopes of surviving.

"This is nasty," Alex said more to herself than to April.

They can to an intersection with six other tunnels to choose from. "Which way out?" April asked frantically to nobody in particular, even thought Alex was standing right next to her. "Which way out?" she yelled again.

"Let's go this way," she yelled to April and she pulled to the tunnel behind them. Of course, it wasn't the one they had come in from. That would have just been stupid. "It has to go somewhere!"

So, the two girls ran down the tunnel as fast as they could, Alex slightly ahead of April, being faster and all. They kept running straight. Every couple of seconds they would look back to see if they were being followed. It seemed like the two of them would do it at the same time out of cautiousness and paranoia.

Alex looked back around to see two Mousers in front of them. She instantly stopped. This caused April to run into her since she had been looking behind then still. Alex fell to the floor into the water. April pulled her up before she had the chance to push herself up and dragged her back to the way they had come.

They had passed a couple of tunnels leading in other directions. There had a couple more Mousers behind them, so they chose the tunnel to their right. It was their only hope. Unfortunately, as they ran April took a turn tripping and falling. Alex pulled her up, like April did to her before, but dropped her when she saw the boarded up tunnel before then. They were trapped.

April screamed for a moment before backing up and noticing the barrier. Alex had managed to pull off one small, rickety plank off the wall, but the others were on too tight. She had tried to pull them off, but it did not suffice. April continued to scream and try to pull the wood off the tunnel entrance.

It seemed like more and more Mousers ran into the tunnel that they were trapped in. Alex swung the wood in her hands and fit one on the head, sending it flying backwards into and other. However, they got back up and re-joined the pack that was still attacking them.

She was a great fighter, but the only way to kill them was to cut off their head. She had nothing sharp what so ever to do that with. Another charged at Alex and she swung again, but like what happened to April back at the lab, it bit down on it and snapped the wood in little pieces. It jumped at her and she kicked it away.

They all jumped at her. A couple had run at April, making her scream. Alex looked back at the ones coming at her and fell back at the sudden charge. She was on the ground like April. She kicked a couple away again, but one grabbed onto her foot and bit down like it was killing a rat.

She let out the most blood curdling scream April had ever heard. Although, she wasn't really paying much attention to her niece while she was being attacked herself. At that moment they had to fend for themselves and it seemed it wasn't working very well.

In that moment, things seemed to happen faster than they really were. Something or someone smashed the head of the Mouser that attacked April while someone else cut the head off the one that was attached to Alex's leg. The other ones that had charged had been smashed and killed as well.

April sat there with her eyes covered. She uncovered them to see who had saved her. She had thought it was Alex, knowing she did martial art, but was shocked at what she saw. Alex was sitting on the ground trying to get the head of a Mouser off her leg. It hadn't been her to save her, but then who did?

The figures were standing a couple feet in front of Alex, who was a couple feet in front of April. They were standing in the shadows, concealing their features. It gave them an air of mystery. That was what April thought. Alex was just too preoccupied with trying to get the head of the Mouser off her bleeding leg. It was like a pit-bull. They locked their jaws, or it just seemed that way.

"Oh," April said. "Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. You saved my-my." She started to stammer.

Alex could hear everything that was being said, but was concentrating on freeing herself. They were good people so there was nothing to worry about. April could tell them what was going on. Alex could just do what she was doing, although she was hoping they would help her. It hurt more than she was letting on.

"Hey," she heard a male voice great. It was a boyish voice. Making him sound like teenager. He also spoke like he was a surfer or skateboarder. Which, slightly bothered Alex. She liked proper grammar. "How you doing?"

She could hear April moan and slouch down in the water. That made her stop what she was doing and look up to see what the problem was. If April was in trouble then she had to help. Even if there was a robot head attached to her leg. She'd do anything for her family and after what happened to her brothers and parents, she's die helping April.

What looked to be four giant, walking, talking, mutant turtles stood in front of her. They were all green with a large shell on their backs. They all had weapon, which she took note of and pads on their knees and elbows. Around their eyes was a single piece of cloth acting as a mask. Each having a different color.

_Masks to conceal their identities? They're walking turtles, what's there to hide? I mean really, think people_, Alex thought to herself.

The one with the orange mask and nun chucks picked up April's unconscious form off the ground and out of the cold, dirty sewer water. This, Alex just realized, was not the best place for her wounded leg to be. She could get an infection.

"Hey, so, can we keep her?" the orange one asked, jokingly. It had been the one who had spoken earlier.


	2. Attack of the Mousers

Chapter 2  
>"Attack of the Mousers"<p>

Alex sat there for a moment just staring at the turtle like creatures before her, who were paying more attention to her unconscious Aunt April than Alex sitting there with a head of a robot attached to her leg. She had never seen creatures like those before and she was utterly shocked. She didn't faint like her aunt though. She was more curious than anything. She didn't like science, after all.

She came back to reality a moment later remembering that the one with the orange mask asked if they could keep April. Of course they couldn't! She was her aunt, her care taker, guardian. What would she do without her? Live on the streets trying to take care of a three your old toddler brother? She didn't think so!

"I'd think not!" Alex said with slight anger. She didn't like to think about losing another family member.

"I was only joking," the orange one replied.

"Well, it wasn't very funny," she said looking back down to her leg. She started to try and pry the head off her leg again. "I'd like to thank you as well, but I'm slightly preoccupied at the moment!" she growled. The thing was really stuck and stuck well.

"Let me help you with that," said the one with the purple bandana. He knelt down and started to tinker with the wiring in the back. A couple minutes later the jaw opened and fell into the water next to Alex.

Alex moaned and looked down at her leg. There were puncture wounds all over her leg. The sharp teeth of the Mouser were sharper than she had thought. Blood dripped down her leg and into her the brown water. Pain swept through her leg and through her body. She tried to stand up, but had to use the wall to do so.

She stood there for another moment looking at them again. They just watched her intently. They were waiting for a scream or for her to run. None of which she did. She looked at them and said, "Well, this is interesting."

"You need some medical assistance," said the purple one. "Would you like to come with us and get your leg checked out? We can take a look at your friend, as well."

Alex thought about it for a moment. Was it really safe to go with them? They did save them, but was there a hidden propaganda or something? She needed help and so did April. "All right. That would be very kind of you."

"Can you walk?" asked the one with the blue mask.

"I'd say that it wouldn't be the smartest idea for me to do that at the moment," Alex said. "It's already bleeding as is. I don't think I should put a lot of strained on it at the moment. Not a least till I get it clean and wrapped up."

"All right," the blue one said. He moved closer to Alex. "Would it be all right if I carry you?" he asked politely.

Alex shook her head and watched as he bent down and picked her up bridal style. He was careful to not touch her injured leg and not to move too fast so she would be comfortable. He didn't want her in pain or any more scared than he thought she was. Which, surprisingly, she wasn't. There was something about them that seem good, safe about them.

They walked through the sewers. It took about five to ten minutes to get to what was their home. The place was huge. Surprisingly, it didn't smell like the sewer either. They had part of the water coming through the middle and a bridge was placed to walk over. In one corner of the large, open room was the entertainment area. There were screen after screen stacked on top of each other of televisions. There was a couch in front of them to watch. There was also a half pipe to skateboard on. There was also a kitchen and a bathroom, the bathroom was connected, but was in another room. There was a fighting arena and another room blocked off by Japanese sliding doors. Up above were the bedrooms.

The placed April on the couch, lying down with a yellow pillow under her red head of hair. Alex was placed on the other side while the purple one went to get the first aid kit. That was the time that Alex examined the area.

"I like what you've done with the place," she complimented. "It's very homey."

"Thank you," the orange one said. "We try to be great hosts," he tried to say with a British accent. He actually did very well.

The purple one came back with a small white box and started to work on Alex's leg. He cleaned it all up, which was painful and wrapped it in white cotton gauze. It felt better to have it wrapped up. Even if it was just the thought that it was now clean. She'd still have to take care of it to make sure it didn't get infected, but that wouldn't be a big deal. She had taken care of worse injured before.

"So, who the heck you are and why were you in the sewers?" asked the one with the red mask.

Before Alex could answer movement came from April. "Oh man," she started. "What a dream! Turtles fighting robots, did I fall asleep watching T.V. again?" she asked herself. "That was the weirdest," she looked up and saw the four turtle things looking down at her. "Thing I'd ever seen!"

The orange one winked and made a couple clicking noises. April started to look around, but the orange one took a couple steps towards April and said, "Hi!"April screamed which caused him to scream. "Please don't do that! I almost jumped out of my shell."

April backed up further on the couch. "It has three figures!" she grabbed the pillow and placed it over her head as she muttered, "I'm asleep." She said it over and over again, just hoping that it was all a dream and she'd wake up in a couple minutes in her apartment.

"This isn't going very well," the purple one said.

"You think?" Alex asked rhetorically.

"Hey, come on!" the orange one said. "We don't have much practice talking to humans. It's going to take a little time" They looked back at April while she continued to mutter to herself. He yawned. "Man, she's making me sleepy."

The red one walked up to April and tapped her on the shoulder. She uncovered her head and looked at him. "Hey you!"

"Wha?" April whined.

"What do you know about those Mouser robot things?" he asked with a New York accent.

"Well," April started to explain. "First I thought they were for cleaning up the city's rat problem, but then I got suspicious when Dr. Stockman said," she pause as if she was coming to the realization of something. "Oh no, I'm talking to it."

"What?" the blue one asked.

"I'm talking to it. To you! Okay, April. You are talking to a giant three fingered turtle. The only logical explanation is that you're dreaming. So, everything's okay." She waved to them. "Hello. I'm April and this is Alex."

"Hello April, Alex," replied the blue one, confused. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Everything's absolutely great!" she laughed. "Whoa!"

The turtles separated and a large mutant rat walked up to the front of the couch. He had grey fur and a brown robe on. He was even shorter than the turtles with a slight hunch, not much, but some. He looked to be the oldest and wisest. There was just a wise, strong, fatherly air about him.

"Then, perhaps you are ready to answer some questions," the rate said.

"You're a, you're a," April started to say, but fainted once more. Alex just shook her head at her strange aunt. Maybe Alex was just better with weird.

"You sure have a way with the ladies, Master Splinter," the purple one said to the rat."Now, what'll we do?"

"Let's nudge her" the blue one said.

"I'll snap her out of it," the red one said.

"Raphael, no," Splinter called the red one.

The orange one had walked away and moved to a lawn chair with a portable CD player. _Those are a little out dated,_ Alex thought. _Most people have iPods or MP3 players._ "Somebody come get me when she wakes up," he complained.

It had seemed the Alex was only half awake as they spoke to April. She didn't realize how tired she was as she sat there on the comfy couch. Her eyes slid closed and fell into a dreamless sleep. That was a good thing because she usually had nightmares about the night her parents died and her and her brothers were kidnapped. Alex had only gotten out alive because of her older brother.

"Hey! Hey, Earth to Mikey," a loud deep voice yelled at someone. They had woken up Alex as well as get the attention of whoever they were trying to do so for.

"Ow," the orange one complained. "What?"

"She woke up," Raphael said to Mikey. "Leo made her some tea and she's ready to consider we might be real. The other one woke up too."

"Awesomely radical dude!" Mikey yelled.

"You keep talking like that and she's gonna pass out again," Raphael teased Mikey.

"Hey," was all Mikey said in reply.

April took a sip of her tea Alex rubber her eyes to try and make herself more aware of everything around her.

"So," Mikey began saying in a mellow voice. "You okay now?"

"Yes," April replied. "Thanks. I've decide that this is either a very long dream that I keep not waking up from or it's the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me."

"You've got that right," Alex said. "It's weird seeing you freak out like that. Either I'm really good with weird or my emotional responses are off."

"Are you okay?" April asked. "How's your leg?"

"Perfect," she lied. It still hurt, but after the nap she had it was starting to feel much better. She was used to pain with all that had happened in her life the past couple months. She had to be otherwise she'd break down.

"Young women," Splinter started. "We have something most important to discuses."

"What?" April asked. They had the all out attention of April and Alex.

"We have never revealed ourselves to the upper world. You have placed us all in grave danger."

"But Master Splinter," the blue one began. "They were in trouble and we helped them."

"Yeah, aren't you always trying to teach us to do the right thing?" the red one retorted.

"As you grow older you will learn that there are many ways to do the right thing, but there is no going back," Splinter said.

"So, you're telling me that letting us die at the jaws of those Mousers would have been the _right thing_?" Alex asked angrily.

"I'm afraid we find ourselves at your mercy," he continued.

"Oh, I would never tell anybody," April said. "I mean who would believe me?"

"She's got a point," the purple one said.

"Yeah," Mikey said. "We're unbelievable." He started to show his muscles as if they were the best things in the world. Alex had to say, they all were very strong and muscular.

"Geez," Raphael said. "Where's your off switch?"

"Seriously," April said. "I promise."

The rat walked over and looked straight into her eyes. They were silent for a moment. "I believe you," he finally said.

The blue one walked over to them and looked down at Alex instead of April. "Is this another lesson, Mater Splinter? How to sense the truth?"

"No," Splinter simply stated. "This is called trusting your gut."

"So, if I am keeping your secret what exactly is it?" April asked. "Who are you people, uh, turtles, whatever?"

"I have memories," Splinter said. "Memories of when I was, what you might call, normal. I remember a day that started like any other, but ending changed the course of many lives. I witnesses an accident. A young boy carried a glass jar with four pet, infant turtles. An old blind man was crossing the street when he was almost run down by a large truck. AS the truck swerved, a metal canister bounced out of the back. It smashed open releasing a glowing ooze which covered their bodies.

"I took pity gathering them up in a coffee can. I took them to my burrow. The next morning I awoke to find the four double in size. The ooze had affected their growth. It changed me also. Making me larger and more intelligent. They followed me everywhere except above ground. I knew the people of the surface would not understand. We are so different. I was amazed by their dexterity, but even so, I was not prepared for what happened one day.

"They actually spoke my name. Soon, they all were speaking. Intelligence followed soon after. Realizing that the world above is sometimes a dangerous place, I began teaching them ninjutsu. The secret arts of stealth and power and all that I knew of this world. From a battered book on Renaissance art that I fished out of the storm drain, I chose names for each of them. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo. Together they are," he was interrupted by his "children."

"Turtles forever!" they all yelled as the high fived one another.

"Or something like that that we all yell at once," Mikey said.

Raphael moved in-between April and Alex and said, "First rule; ignore Mikey. Your life will be much easier."

"So, we have remained in secret. That is our story," Splinter said.

"But how did you know martial arts?" April asked. "Alex learned it at her parent's dojo along with her brothers, but what about you?"

"That is a story for another time," Splinter said. "Young woman, you know ninjutsu?" he asked Alex.

"No," she said. She looked away from everyone to the television screen in front of them.

April shook her head and smacked Alex in the back of the head. "Yes, she does. She quit, though. She hasn't practice in a while."

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever," Splinter said. "That is a story for another time."

He didn't get it. He knew nothing of what doing ninjutsu did to Alex. She tried to get back into the hang of things after her brothers and parents were gone, but it hurt her inside too much to continue on doing it. It brought too many memories back to her that killed her inside. She was missing them too much, so she tried to block them out.

"Hey guys," Mikey said at the T.V.'s. "Look at this."

"And the police are completely baffled by this daring bank robbery, boldly executed in broad daylight. If anyone had any information the police urge you to call the crime stoppers headline."

"So," Mikey started again. "Anybody want to take a wild guess what did this?"

"This must be what we heard Do. Stockman talking about," April said. "He's got the Mousers robbing banks."

"I've told you from the start," Alex said. "I didn't like him. He's always hit on you and as creepy as that is me too." Alex acted like she was gagging.

"What do you know about this Stockman guy?" Raphael asked.

"He's a genius," she started. "He's also nuts. We used to work for him, but when we got suspicious he turned the Mousers on us! Luckily we ran into you guys."

"He destroyed our old Lair," Leonardo said.

"Must have been one of his Mouser test runs," April said.

"But that was our home," Mikey said.

"Now he's graduated to banks," Donatello said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Raphael said. "I say we shut down Mouser central." He stood up and did some tricks with his weapons. "Permanently."

Mikey started to laugh. "I just love those action movie lines. You write that yourself?"

"It won't be easy," April said. "Stocktronics is rigged with the latest un to the minute security tech."

"Bring it on," Mikey said. "Allow me to introduce our very own secret weapon. The techno turtle himself, Donatello! Take a bow, Don."

"Aw, cut it out," Don said flattered.

"Can we go please?" Raphael asked impatiently.

Alex had to stay behind due to the fact the she couldn't run in the condition her leg was in yet. So, she stayed in the Lair with Master Splinter. He had made some peach tea for them to drink. Not wanting to be rude, Alex took some even those she wasn't a huge fan of tea. However, when she tried it, she absolutely loved it. She made a note to buy some later.

"What is it that made you stop your training?" Splinter asked out of the blue.

Alex looked down at the cup in her hands. She could tell him right? She could trust him with this. They trusted her with their secret; the least she could do was tell Splinter about her family.

"You can't tell," Alex began. "Not even your sons."

"It wouldn't be my place to," he replied.

Alex took in a deep breath. "I used to live with my parents and three older brothers in our dojo. They taught ninjutsu, so naturally they taught my brothers and me. We were great, to say the least and I don't mean to brag or anything. It was what we enjoyed doing most. I think for the most part we just liked that we could do it together. Other than that we didn't do much together.

"We were the best of friends, though. Like your sons are. We'd tease each other, but we were all alike. They'd tease me about being a girl and then I'd tease them back saying they'd lost to me on more than one accession. It was just how everything worked with us. It was our family.

"However, a couple weeks ago we were attacked by some people. I have no idea who they are or what they really wanted, but nothing turned out well in the end. Everything changed. I had to sell the dojo, move out and go live with my Aunt April. She was my father's sister.

"They killed my parents in front of us. They made us watch as they," she stammered. She decided to change the course of the conversation a little. "My brothers and I fought as hard as we could, but in the end, they shoved me into a safe room unseen to the attackers. They told me not to come out until everything was quiet and I knew they were gone or when they came to get me. They never did come to get me, though. So, when everything was quiet to went out to find them all gone. My parents were dead and my brothers had disappeared off the face of the planet. We still can't find them to this day.

"I tried to continue on with my normal life. I had gotten an internship where April worked before everything happened and I continued on with that. I had gotten it at such a young age because I think April pulled some strings for me. I continue on with school. I have some close friends that I still hang out with, but it isn't that same as my brothers. That's why I stopped my training. Because doing it makes me remember them and all the memories of that night come back. They haunt me enough as it is. They just had to take one of my favorite things to do too."

"Your brothers wouldn't want you to stop doing what you love because they are gone. That is why the saved you," Splinter said. "That way, you may live on for them. Live out your life for them. See all the beauty around you as if they were still there. They will always be there for you. You just have to find them in your hear."

Alex shook her head. Sure, people told her that they wouldn't want her to stop what she loved, but nobody had ever put it that way before. They hadn't added in all the heartfelt things that wise splinter did. It was nice to have him around. He made things more clear. He also made you think.

"Master," she said. "Thank you. I know I haven't been the most polity to you and your sons and I want to say I'm sorry for that."

"I understand, Ms. O'Neil. Your apology is accepted and I thank you for that," he said. Come, please meditate with me till our family comes back. I know it will not be much longer. They are very skilled."

So, they moved over to the dojo and sat down on the mats. They sat there in silence just breathing in and out. They relaxed their bodies and minds, creating a place of peace in their minds for them to get lost and focused in. Alex forgot how nice it was to meditate. She should have done it sooner. It would have helped her get away from all her pain.

She mainly focused on her breathing. That was what always got her him a trance. In, out, in, out. Her brothers used to make it a game for when she was meditating. Whoever could get her out of her chance got free ice cream from the other people playing. It was very hard to get her out of her state of mind. She was aware of everything around her, but she didn't pay any mind to it. She was concentrating on her breathing and her breathing alone.

The only way to get her out of her trance was to attack her, which she could always dodge. It was against the rules to do that though, so whoever did it had to buy her ice cream. She made that rule up herself. Hey, she got a lot of free ice cream that way. It seemed like they could never get her out of that state of mind.

"We're back," Mikey sang as they all entered from the sewers. "Did you miss me?"

Splinter could be heard getting up from his place on the mat, but Alex didn't move. She was too relaxed and at peace to get up and go deal with anything at the moment. She wanted to go see how everything went, but then again, she wanted to stay where she was and continue to focus on her breathing/.

In, out. In, out. In, out.

"What's up with her?" Raphael asked about Alex.

"She is merely meditating, my son. It seems to me she can keep her focus better than you can sometimes. Please, leave her be," Splinter said.

"But I want to tell her all about what happened," Mikey said. Footsteps could be heard walking over to her. She could feel hot breath on her face as she continued to sit there in silence. In, out. In, out. "Hello? Is anybody home?" he asked as he knocked on her head like it was a door.

In, out. In, out.

"Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey," he continued on. "Leo, she might be better than you. Any ideas on how to snap her out of it?"

In, out. In, out.

"Her brothers used to make it a game to get her out of her meditating state. Whoever could do it would get ice cream," April said. "It was the funniest thing to see them try."

In, out. In, out.

"I know how to get her out of it," Raph.

Running could be heard coming towards Alex. She could sense they were behind her. Without thinking, Alex acted upon instinct. She stood up and moved to the left as Raph got closer. She grabbed him by the back of the neck and swung him around onto the floor. He groaned as his face made contact with the cold floor.

She bent down so she was close to his ear. "You owe me ice cream," she said. She got up and brushed herself off. Everyone was looking at her. "What?"  
>"Wait," Mikey said. "He owes you ice cream? He got you up. Don't you owe him some?"<p>

"No, it's against the rules to attack. You have to use other means to get my attention," she replied. "Anything, but attacking is out of the question. So, you owe me."

Alex stuck out her hand for Raph to take so she could help him up, but he grunted and got up by himself. She just shook it off and walked over to the group. She could see Raph had a temper and didn't like to lose.

The news was on the television. It was another thing about the bank robbery. "Destruction of the Stocktronic's building and the sudden disappearance of Dr. Baxter Stockman."

"What will you do now, Ms. O'Neil?" Splinter asked April. "You are most definitely out of a job."

"I'm not exactly sure," April said.

"We'll help you get back on your feet," Don said.

"You guys," April said, flattered. "You've all been great and by guys I guess I mean four big green talking turtles and a giant talking rat."

"Here's to the new team," Leonardo said. He raised his glass of tea and everyone did the same.


	3. Meet Casey Jones

Chapter 3

"Meet Casey Jones"

Alex walked around the back allies of New York City a couple days after the incident with the Mousers. Her leg no longer hurt, but the still in the process of healing. She still had it in a wrapping, but not as thin as the one Donatello put it in the day it happened. No, it wasn't that bad anymore.

She had been thinking about something that wouldn't allow her to sleep back at her aunt's apartment. It wasn't anything bad, she just couldn't get it off her mind. She was hoping she could walk it off, but she was getting nowhere with that thought. She just kept getting further away from the apartment.

She was thinking about what splinter had said. She loved to do martial arts. It was one of the things she loved most in the world. She really did want to start doing it again. She knew her brothers would want her too, but for some reason she was hesitant to start again. She couldn't figure out why, but there was just something.

"Keep away you lizard thing! Keep away!" she heard a woman yell. A red haired woman in her thirties ran out of an alley and down the street in the directing Alex was in. She was clenching her purse like someone was going to steel it.

"Ma'am!" Alex yelled. The woman looked up to see Alex. "What happened?" she asked.

"There was this giant lizard thing," she said hysterically. Then, without warning, she ran off down the street.

_A giant lizard,_ thought Alex_. I don't know any giant lizard, but I do know giant turtles. _With that, Alex ran into the alley. Nobody was there, but she wasn't going to give up. The turtles she knew wouldn't rob someone, but what did she really know? Maybe they weren't who they really thought they were.

She didn't want to believe that, though. So, she went chasing after which ever turtle it was that was getting accused. He wasn't in the one she had seen the woman run out of, but she continued on as she heard noises that sounded like fighting. She followed the sound despite her head telling her not to.

She ran around the corner and looked over two see two gang members on the ground trying to crawl away unnoticed. They were doing a great job at it too. There was a man in his early twenties, about the same age as April. He was wearing a red shirt, blue jeans and a golf bag on his back. He had a hockey stick in his hands and other things as weapons. On his face was a white hockey mask while his black long hair hung over in and to the sides.

There was in fact a turtle in front of the guy with the hockey mask. She could immediately tell who the darkest green turtle was. It was Raphael. The red mask confirmed it.

"But since your ears don't seem to be working," the man swung at Raph, but Raph moved out of the way. "I'm gonna have to get my point across a whole nether way."

The two males started to circle each other. "Listen," Raph said. "I'm trying to tell you something, here, but you're really working on my last nerve."

"Is that right?" the man asked. He swung a couple more times at Raph.

"I think you're trying to do the right thing," Raph said. "But you're going about it all wrong. You got to get control over yourself. "

"Look freak boy! If you're protecting these Purple Dragon scum than you're in my way and you're going down too." He charged again, but Raph dodged.

"Hickey season's over," Raph muttered as he jumped up and kicked the hockey stick out of the guys' hands.

"Yeah? Well baseball season is in session and so are you so freaky freaking weirdo!" He pulled out two baseball bats and spun them around like a trick. "Batter up!"

"Fine," Raph replied. He grabbed his weapons as well and yelled, "Play ball!"

Both the guys charged at the same time. They met half way. Ralf had one of the bats stopped by one of the spikes of his sai.

"Hey, you got to listen to me! You're angry, I understand that, believe me! But what if you grab the wrong guy? What if you go too far? Get yourself in real trouble," Raph yelled.

The man swung and Raph didn't get the chance to dodge. He was thrown back and hit the brick wall. He slowly and painfully slid down and rested in a sitting position.

"Raph!" Alex yelled. She didn't mean to yell out and give her position away, but she reacted without thinking. Raph looked over and got a shocked look on his face. He hadn't expected to see Alex any time soon, or at all. He didn't want her to get in the middle of it. He didn't want her hurt.

"I got my reasons for doing what I do," he said. He hadn't heard Alex so he continued to attack. "And they got nothing to do with you." He lunged down, but Raph cause the attach with his weapons.

"Fine, all you want to do if fight, " he said. He broke the hold and leapt up from the ground. He kicked the man and he went flying back. "Let's fight!"

The man didn't get up as Raph walked over to him. He swung one of the bats. Raph went flying back into some garbage cans and another brick wall. He seemed to get angrier and angrier. He growled at the man. He was losing his temper fast.

He quickly got up as the man grabbed the golf club from the bag on his back. Before the man had the chance to do anything Raph kicked him, making him fall backwards and hit a wall. He sat there for a moment with his eyes closed. Alex thought he was out cold for a moment, but knew better. Not everything was as it seemed.

Alex took a couple steps out from around the corner of the alley and closer to where Raph and the guy were. She made sure to stay at a safe distance so she wouldn't get in the way, but if help was needed on Raph's part then she was there. However, she could see that Raph needed the fight. He looked like he had to vent somehow.

Raph reached down and pulled the hockey mask off of the guy. The guy didn't seem to like that. She gave Raph a glare that if looks could kill, he'd be more than six feet under.

Raph seemed a little taken aback by his own actions. He looked at the mask in his hand and the guy before him. "What am I doing?" he asked himself. "We're on the same side. We shouldn't be fighting." He reached down and pulled the guy up by his arm and pulled him up. The guy had grabbed his golf club and held it in his hands, waiting for either a chance to strike or to defend himself. "We just need to get a hold of ourselves. Chill."

Raph gave the guy his mast back. It made Alex smile to see Raph's nice, sweet side. She knew he couldn't be all moody and stubborn. He could be as nice as any of his brothers if he wanted to be or if he didn't lose his temper.

"You know," the guy said. "You're right. You've showed me the error of my ways." Something about his tone didn't sound right. Alex didn't like it. She didn't trust the guy on bit. "Not!" he yelled as he swung the club and hit Raph, sending him backwards into more garbage cans and Alex. "For!" The guy just laughed. "I can't believe you fell for that."

Raph was heavy. Alex couldn't help but moan when the 200 pound turtle came crashing on top of her. "Go get him!" she whispered angrily at Raph.

The guy started to run and Raph growled as he stood up to run after him. Alex ran after the two. This was interesting and she wanted to make sure nothing really bad happened to Raph. She knew he could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. She liked the turtles. She wanted them to because closer friends and maybe like family, since her real one was all broken up.

She caught up to Raph a couple minutes later. "Raph," she started. "Are you okay?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Go home!" he ordered.

"No," she stated. "I'm not leaving you."

He looked over to her for a brief moment. He didn't believe what he was hearing. She actually said that. She gave him a sweet, warm smile. Humans usually weren't this nice. April was, but everyone else screamed when they saw them. April even did that. However, Alex hadn't. She just went along with them, trusting them completely. Now she was helping him. She was making sure he was okay.

"Fine," he said finally. "Just make sure you're out of the way so you don't get hurt."

"Gotcha!" she said, triumphantly.

They both came to a stop at the opening at an alley. "I know that big dope is around here somewhere." They slowly walked further into the alley looking for the angry guy who was in the middle of a battle with Raph.

"He couldn't have just vanished. It's not possible," Alex said.

A blinding light came from the other side of the alley, not too far away. Squealing tires could be heard and the light started to race towards the two figures across from it. Alex had enough time to dodge, but Raph didn't. The man drove by on him motorcycle and hit Raph's feet out from under him with his hockey stick. He landed next to Alex on the ground.

The man stopped at the end of the alley with his bike still fully running. "I got more where that came from, freak boy!" he yelled. "You want a rematch? Check me out, Friday night, Central Park. Adios loser!" With that he took his attention to his driving again and drove off.

Raph quickly got up off the ground and yelled at the guy, "Come back here you-" The guy drove off without paying any mind to the two back in the alley. "Ah nut," Raph muttered.

It was quiet for a moment before anything else was said between the two in the alley. Raph just stood there looking at the entrance of the alley where the man had driven off. Alex just stood there watching Raph to see what his next move was. She didn't know if he was going to go after him or go back home, but either way, she was going to go with him. Like she said before, she wasn't going to leave him.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked Raph. She placed a comforting and concerned hand on his arm for support.

"I'm fine," he said. "What about you, did he get you?"

"No," Alex said simply. "I'm fine, but a little confused. What the heck was that about? Why did that lady say you tried to steal her purse? Who was that guy and why were you fighting?"

"Come on," he said as he started to walk away. "I'll tell ya on the way back to the lair."

And so he did. He started from the beginning where he and Mikey were sparing. He had lost him composure and went all out on Mikey, almost really hurting him or worse. He said he had needed time alone to think. So, he went topside to clear him mind. That was when he ran into the Purple Dragons and that other guy. The mystery man had been fighting the Dragons who were trying to steal the lady's purse.

The guy started to go too far and chased the Dragons. Raph had given the purse back, but the lady freaked out. It wasn't anything new, but it was still sad to think she would scream and yell at him like that for giving back her purse. People these days had something wrong with them. He was only trying to be polite.

That was where Alex came in. She didn't need any more explaining from Raph there. She knew what happened after that. She was slightly overwhelmed by what happened. She was still slightly shocked from the events a couple days before. It was a whole new world for her and she knew if she wanted to stay friends with the turtles that she would have to get used to it. She did want to stay friends with them, which meant, get used to it fast. So, she was going to try.

"So, that leaves the question," Alex began. Raph looked over to her as they both entered the lair. "Are you going Friday?"

"Welcome home, Raph!" Mikey greeted like the events that had happened earlier hadn't. "Look! It Alex!" Mikey said. Raph and Alex both walked closer and they both got a better look at them. "Man, you two look like you got the shell kicked out of you."

"You have no idea," Alex muttered audibly.

"Yeah, it's a long story, but first I, uh, I- I wanted to apologize. Mikey I'm sorry I got so out of control earlier. Guy I'm really sorry," he said. "You too Alex. I didn't mean to fall on you," he said so only she could hear.

She couldn't help but chuckle at little. It was slightly humorous. "No problem," she replied back.

"Hey," Mikey said. "Don't sweat it, bro." He playfully punched him in the arm.

"All right," Leonardo said hesitantly. "Who are you and what have you done with our brother, Raphael?"

"Let's just say I had a chance to think about the way I've been acting. I'll fill you in over dinner," Raph said.

"Dinner?" Mikey asked excitedly. "Now you're talking mu language."

"What language is that, Mikey? Nitwit?" Raph jokes.

Alex, Leonardo, Don and Master Splinter all started to walk away from the two joking brothers. All with smiles on their faces.

"Ha ha, listen to the funny mutant," Mikey said as he slapped Raph on the back of his shell.

Dinner was eventful with the turtles. They all talked and joked around with each other. Every once in a while someone would throw something at someone, causing the other people to do so as well. Everyone but Alex and Splinter. They were the two who would duck out of the way and yell at them. Not that Alex didn't find it funny, she just didn't want cheese in her hair.

Master Splinter took his leave after he finished his dinner, saying goodnight to each of his sons and even to Alex. He said it was good to see her again and that she should have a nice night and safe trip home. He left and went to his room after that.

"So," Donny said. "What were you doing out so late at night, Alex. It's not safe as you saw."

Alex looked at her empty plate in front of her. "I had something on my mind and I just wanted to get out of the apartment. I needed air. Plus, I can take care of myself."

"We know," Mikey said. "We're just looking out for you. You're our buddy now."

Alex smirked at her friends. "I have a question," she stated. "What are you doing about Friday?"

"We have a couple days to get ready," Raph said. "I'm going to get this guy's head on straight one way or another."

"I want in," she stated straight forward. "You can use all the help you can get. I want to help."

"No way," Leo said. "You can get hurt. We can't risk it."

"I've taken care of myself before," she said. "This is no different. I've been doing this my whole life. I can do this."

"No," Raph said. "You'll get in the way."

"I have to agree," Donny said. "We can't risk having you there and getting hurt. It could also risk others getting hurt with you getting in the way."

"I can take care of myself," she repeated.

"Sorry Dudette," Mikey said. "What would April think?"

"You're not going," Leo said. "That's final."

Alex stood up angrily from the table. She hated it when people didn't listen to her. She had been fighting her whole life. She could take care of herself. She was strong and smart. She knew what she could do. She knew her limits. This was nothing. She'd never put herself into a situation where she was ready to be in. She wouldn't put others in danger. She would never let anyone else suffer.

She turned and walked away from her friends. She knew they were just thinking about her own safety. They didn't want her hurt and she liked that, but they wouldn't listen. She could take care of herself. She'd show them. She'd show them all.

o-0-o

Those couple days before Friday were spent like she usually did during the day. She was at school doing all her woke and getting good grades. She actually liked school. She loved to learn and hang out with her friends. It wasn't the same as it used to be with her brother gone, but she still had fun with her friends that were there.

After school, however, was a different story. She'd always do her homework at school so she had all the time in the world for whatever she wanted to do. Usually she'd use that time to work at Stocktronics working with April. She enjoyed working with April, but now April spent her time looking for a new job and Alex just sat there doing nothing in particular.

Now, she trained herself. She wanted to prove to the others that she could fight. That she could take care of herself. She wasn't some weak, normal teenager. She had been able to fight since she was three or four. Fighting was second nature to her. She and her brothers lived to do ninjutsu. It was one of the things they had loved to do. She decided she wasn't going to let that go.

Friday came all to slow, but when it finally was there Alex was as excited as she could be. She was also nervous, but that would be normal. She knew she would be fine, but there was just something that was telling her to be on guard. She kept that in mind.

It was late the Friday night. Alex was walking around looking for the hockey masked guy or the turtles. She was having no luck. Central Park was a big place. They could have been anywhere. It was 843 acres of land.

It seemed like she had been wondering around forever. How hard could it be to find four mutant turtles and a buff guy in a hockey mask? Really, it shouldn't have been that hard. There should have been a lot of fighting going on which would mean noise. Why wasn't there any noise other than late night traffic?

"What do you think you're doing?" yelled a male's voice from a clearing behind some trees and bushes to Alex's left.

The voice sounded very familiar to Alex. She knew it very well. It was one of those voices that you knew and heard every day. It was someone she's never be able to forget even if she wanted to. She did want to, though.

She got pulled in by the sudden voices. She walked over and crouched down in the bushes peering into the clearing where the voice had come from. She had to find out what was going on. The turtles could wait. They didn't even want her there in the first place.

"How could you be so stupid?" they yelled.

The male looked exactly like she remembered him to. His short strawberry blonde hair was cut short and spiked up with hair gel. His blue eyes seemed like they were filled with anger. He was still tall and his strange physic was still there. He was wherein a black shirt with black pants. In his back gloved hands was a black mask.

Alex couldn't help herself any longer. She quickly stood up and ran out from her hiding place and into the grassy clearing. The two people that were there were as shocked by this as she was. She mentally slapped herself for her stupid, rash actions.

"Marcus," Alex said breathlessly. She still didn't believe her eyes.

"Alex," the guy muttered. His blue eyes were filled with shock and pain. He turned his attention quickly to the guy in the ninja outfit next to him. "Get out of my sight. Don't let it happen again."

The ninja bowed to his apparent higher superior. He then ran off in the opposite direction that Alex had come from. He was fast, but not as fast as Alex was.

Alex looked back at Marcus. He looked angry, but with a hint of sadness behind his eyes. Without warning he charged at Alex. He pulled out a single sword from a sheath on his back, like how Leo wore his. His sword was silver, but at the handle was completely covered in back cloth. There was a single hanging charm at the end with a little red simple of a three towed foot, like the simple Alex and April had seen back at Stocktronics.

She was able to dodge after the shock of his attack wore off. Why was he attacking her? She had done nothing wrong. She just wanted to get to the bottom of everything. It was killing her. She was a curious girl.

Attack after attack came and Alex kept dodging each one. At one point, Marcus had gotten a hit in. He hit her injured leg with the butt of his sword, causing Alex to fall to the ground in pain. She didn't think it was still that tender. It was incredibly painful, but she tried to jump back a moment after falling. Apparently he would try to kill her if she didn't. This didn't seem like the person she knew. He hit her in the head with the butt of his sword making her fall back down. It would bruise.

Marcus bent down and looked at Alex intently. "Go home," he ordered. "Don't come back, Alex. Forget all about this." He stood up and put his sword back in its holder. He slipped his mask on and ran off into the distance.

"Marcus!" Alex yelled, trying to stand up. The hit to her head had been harder than she had thought it was. She had to grab onto a nearby tree so she wouldn't fall over. "Marcus!" Tears started to fall down her face as she stared at the dark underline of trees where Marcus had run off into. Alex let out one last cry and scream as she lost all hope of seeing the person again. "Brother!"


	4. Nano

Chapter 4

"Nano"

Alex hadn't been herself in a couple weeks. She had locked herself in her room and only left for when she needed to go to school. She didn't eat lunch with her friends, telling them she had some work to do in the library. She'd stopped hanging out and talking with her Aunt. She barely spoke five sentences to her in a day. She barely ate anything and was starting to scare April (especially when she saw the bruise on her head from the attack from Marcus), who was stressed enough as is.

April had been planning on reopening her father's antique store while she decided what she really wanted to do with her life. Having worked with Dr. Baxter Stockman seemed like it had ruined being a scientist for her. She wanted to find something she truly loved to do.

So, to help get everything set up and moved April asked the turtles to come over and help move thing. They were too heavy for April to move on her own and she couldn't get Alex to come out of her room. She needed someone to help and the guys were more than happy to oblige. They really were good friends.

Alex had actually come out of her room and sat in the hallways around the corner from the top of the stairs. She didn't really feel like seeing the guys or helping move anything. She just wanted to change her scenery. She was getting bored of staring at the ceiling of her room. She sighed to herself.

After hearing the doorbell ring April walked over to the door and opened it for her helpers.

"Hi April! Green brothers, movers and shlepers reporting for duty," Mikey said.

"Hey guys," April said. "Thanks for coming. I need all the help I can get. Mike, you can start by moving those big heavy boxes."

"Just let me put on my trusty hernia chest," Mikey said jokingly. Usually Alex would have laughed at that, but she wasn't in the mood. She wasn't in the mood for anything.

"Right over there, wise guy," April said. "Plus, I got a heater that won't heat."

Alex ignored everything after that. They were doing fine without her. They didn't need her. She didn't want to _get in the way_. Plus, she didn't know how much of a help she'd be in the state she was in. She had been having flashbacks of the night her parents died and her brothers disappeared. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened at the park. She had been crying a lot the past couple of weeks, which was very unlike her. Someone saying her name downstairs caught her attention.

"So," Leo started. "How is Alex doing? You said she was acting strange."

"Yeah," April said. "She doesn't come out of her room. She won't talk to me. She's barely eating anything. I don't know what's wrong. It's scaring me. I don't know what to do."

Alex sighed. She never wanted April to suffer because of her confusion. She just wanted answers. Why was Marcus acting the way he was? Why was he dressed like a ninja? Was her other brothers alive? Were they with Marcus? Why were they not coming home?

She shook her head trying to stop thinking about everything. This was killing her inside. Why was this happening to her? What had she done wrong in her life? All she wanted was to have a normal life. She wanted her parents and her brothers.

Unknowing what she was doing she stood up from her spot on the ground and walked downstairs. Usually when she did that she'd be going outside for a walked. That was what her mind was telling her to do. She needed air. Being in her room all day for the past couple weeks was getting to her. She needed air from outside and not just her stuffy bedroom air.

She got stares as she walked past everyone and to the door. Nobody said anything. They were just too shocked that she had come down. April had told them before all that had been happening before she did just then and that wasn't the only thing that shocked them. The bruise on the left side of her forehead was dark purple and very noticeable with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

She opened the back door and walked out. Before she could take a couple steps away from the place someone placed a hand on her arm and pulled her to face them. It was Leo. He had a concerned look on his green face.

"Alex," Leo began. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she lied. She knew he knew that and really didn't care. She just wanted to get away from him. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him thinking she was some weak girl that couldn't take care of herself and gets in the way. "Let me go."

"No," he said. "Is this about what we said back at the lair? About you not being able to go with us?"

She had to think for a moment. She had forgotten that that was where it happened. She remembered that they had said that. Oh, she remembered that well. She just forgot it was at the lair. Overall, this was not what it was about. "No, now let go."

"No," he protested. "I want to know what's wrong. How did you get that bruise? Why aren't you eating? Why aren't you talking to April or leaving your room? What happened?"

"It's none of your business," she stated. Master Splinter hadn't told them about her past. She was thankful for that. "Let go. I'm just getting in the way and being a bother."

She quickly squirmed out of Leo's grasp. He had been shocked she had snapped at him like that. So, maybe that was partially the problem, but the stuff with her brother had been what was bothering her the most. She wanted answers and she wanted them then and there. Mostly, she just wanted her brothers back.

She quickly walked away after that. She walked around thinking for quite some time. It seemed like time didn't exist as she tried to get everything off her mind. She went back to the part to see if she could find any trace of her brother, but that was to no success. Nothing was there. No ninja's what so ever. She couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary either.

Why would he tell her to just go home and forget what she saw? Wasn't he happy to see his little sister? Didn't he want to say hello and give her a hug? Didn't he want to come home? Did he not like her anymore? Did he not care what happened to their family?

She started to cry as she walked back to the apartment. She walked into the store on the first floor and up the stairs that led to the apartment area. She could hear people talking in the living room. It was most definitely the turtles. Their voices were very distinctive.

"I'm a little nervous about the about these robberies. The jewelry store that was robbed is right on my block. That's why I asked you over for a sleepover tonight," April's voice said.

"Don't worry, April. We've got you covered," Raph said.

"I feel so much better having you guys here," April said.

Alex walked in at that moment. The person and mutants in the room all turned and looked at the newcomer. She felt strange whenever they did that. She didn't like it. She never really liked a lot of attention. She tried not to pay them any mind as she walked past everyone and to her bedroom. She shut the door and locked it behind her.

_Am I not good enough to be there sister? Did I do something wrong? Maybe I should give up like Marcus said. If they don't want to be found than why should I look? They probably are glad I'm gone, _thought Alex as she was lying on her bed looking at the ceiling.

Alex's stomach growled. She hadn't eaten anything in two days. The last thing she ate was an apple. That had been the only thing she ate that day. Before that she didn't eat for about three days. She was really hungry. So, she decided it was a better time than any to get something to eat.

She unlocked her bedroom door and walked to the kitchen. The turtles had fallen asleep watching a movie and April wasn't anywhere in sight. Alex figured she went to bed. She grabbed an apple from the kitchen. She was almost finished with it as she sat on the counter in the kitchen looking out into the living room when a noise from outside happened.

Leo shot up in the blue chair he was sitting in as the noise woke him up. He was shocked for a moment. He looked around the room and saw Alex. They both exchanged looks that said, "Did you hear that?"

"Guys," he said.

Leo tried to shake Mikey awake. Mikey muttered, "Can I have another s'more?" He sat up and added, "What?"

Leo shushed him. "Noise, downstairs." The others had woken up as well and everyone listened to what was going on downstairs. It was a good thing April asked the guys to stay there that night, although Alex could have taken care of it herself. They quickly jumped out the window and down a wire to the alley. Alex grabbed an umbrella and used that to slide down like they had done with their weapons.

There was a large mechanical robot that seemed to have different parts of different electronic objects. There was a man in solid brown shirt and a plaid jacket over it. On top of his head as a brown hat. He was the guy who had broken into the _2__nd__ Time Around_, April's shop.

"Okay," Leo said. "What is that thing, Donny?"

"Uh," Donny said, "Insufficient data, boss."

The guy put his hands up and started to stammer. He walked around behind the robot and hid. "This can't be happening," he said. "Martians! Just when things are going my way we get invaded! Don't let him get me kid!"

He called the robot kid. The robot had several masks on placed on a rotating a rotating valve. It changed it to an angry face. It wasn't happy that they wanted what they had taken back. It didn't like that they were scaring the man.

The robot lunged forward and smashed the ground where the turtles and Alex was. They all jumped back, the turtles further than Alex, but she still got distance. It was listening to what the man said. It had to of cared for him, otherwise it wouldn't be doing it. It had a mind of its own, so couldn't they try to talk to it. That was what was going through Alex's mind.

Raph was the first to get to the robot. He had his Sais out and was swinging them in his hands at the robot. The robot tried to step on, but he jumped back. Mikey jumped up with his nun chucks. He landed his feet on the back of the robot, but the robot turned around and knocked him away with its arm. He landed over by Donny, who was rummaging through his duffle bag.

Raph, Mikey and Leo surrounded the robot. It tried to punch Leo, but he dodged by sliding through its legs. It wanted to go after Mikey then. It turned and Donny took that as his opportunity. He had a blow torch. It screamed as it touched it's back. It knocked all the turtles away at once. They all moaned and tried to stand up.

It was then that it noticed Alex. It walked over to her and raised its arms to hit her, but Alex just smiled at it and just said, "Hello." It stopped confused by her actions for a moment. It started to get ready to go again, but was stopped by her actions once more. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

It looked at her confused. "Name?" he sounded. Its voice sounded like a little kids. Innocent and childish.

"Yeah," she replied sweetly. "My name's Alex. Do you have a name?" She didn't get a reply from the robot. "Can I call you Nano?"

"Nano." Its face changed to a smile and then he reached down to Alex and picked her up. "Sissy," it said.

That was the last thing she expected the robot to do. She tried to squirm out of its iron grip around her waist, but it wasn't working. She turned to see the guy who had been with the robot yelling at it to keep going.

"Don't let them aliens get you, kid! Knock them flat!" he yelled.

The turtles turned their attention to the guy. "What do you know about this?" Leo asked him forcefully.

"Help, kid!" the guy yelled as he backed up with his hands up in a surrendering way.

"Daddy!" Nano called. He threw Alex out of the alley and into the empty street. She landed on top of a car. The windshield was completely chattered and large dents were under Alex.

Before Alex knew it, she was being picked up and slung over the shoulder of Nano. In the other arm was the robber. The turtles were taken down by Nano and were still in the alley as Nano took off with his "father" and "sister."

o-0-o

Alex, the robber and Nano had wound up at the junk yard. The robber wound up creating a thrown for himself in a mount of junk while Alex sat at the bottom of the hill on a microwave. Nano was just walking about in front of them doing nothing in particular.

"So," Alex said. "What's your story?" she asked the robber. She may as well get as much information on him as possible when she could. That way when he got caught Alex could tell the cops everything.

The guy seemed to look at her suspicious for a moment, but shrugged it off. That hadn't been the wisest move. Yet, he wasn't the smartest guy either. "The names Harry Parker. Been living on the streets as a con man my whole life. Just happened to come across this thing. Best thing that ever happened to me. You?"

"First of all," she said matter of fact. "It was my Aunt's store you just robbed."

"What can I say? I liked what I saw," he said, defending himself. "Anything else?"

"What? You want my life story?" she spat.

"No fighting! Daddy! Sissy! No fighting!" Nano cried. Its face was one of distress.

"Sorry sweetheart," Alex said calmingly to Nano. "We'll stop fighting."

Nano's face went back to a smiling mask as it started to walk around again. It was like nothing ever happened. At least Nano wasn't throwing a tantrum like a regular toddler would.

"So? You gonna tell me or what?" Harry asked.

Alex didn't know what made her do it or why it she told it to him, but she told him everything. She started with what happened to her family to what happened at Stocktronics (leaving out what happened with the turtles). She spilled about seeing her brother at the park and everything that had been bothering her for the past couple of weeks. She didn't know what was better? That it felt good to get it off her chest or that someone could talk about it with her, even if it was a scumbag like Harry.

"Wow," Harry said. "And I thought I had one wacked up life. So, what are ya gonna do about the Marcus thing? You just gonna forget about it or go after him?"

Alex sat there looking at the ground for a minute. "I have no clue," she muttered. "I want to, but what if I do end up finding him or all of them? What would I do then? It seemed to me that he didn't want me around. Was I a horrible sister or something?"

"If you asked me," Harry started. "They loved ya. If they didn't than they wouldn't have saved you in the first place. Plus, you said he had a weapon when you saw him at the park. He could have finished you off right then and there, but he didn't. He just warned you to stop. It sounds to me that he's trying to protect you from something."

The more she thought about it from that perspective the more it made sense. So, maybe she was a good sister. Maybe he did still love her and want her safe, but from what? What was it that he was hiding from her? Or rather, her from them? Were the other two part of it too?

The one thing that kept coming to her mind was the red three toed foot symbol. It seemed like everything revolved around that symbol, but what did it mean? Where did it come from? She could only think of question after question. No answers seemed to come to her mind.

Harry laughed as Nano walked back up to them. "Man that was something," he said. "Those space aliens or whatever." Alex couldn't help but laugh at what he thought the turtles were. Aliens, ha! "But you saved me! You're a stand up guy, you know dat? I'm proud of ya."

Nano was happy with him being proud of him. _That's not the right kind of thing to be proud about. He's not the world's best influence,_ Alex thought.

"Hey, you think that maybe those green freaks came from the same place you're from? Wherever that is," he trailed off for a moment. "You think that maybe they're here to take you back?" Nano changed his face to a sad one. "No, I wouldn't like that either."

_Only because he's making you rich,_ thought Alex.

"Maybe it's time for us to blow out of time," Harry said.

"Sissy comes too!" Nano said. It reached down to Alex and took her hand. It was hopeful that she would go to.

_I can't leave. Not when I know my brother or maybe even all of my brothers are out there. Sorry Nano, but the turtles are taking you down. You're too unstable. I'll miss you,_ thought Alex. All she did was smile at Nano, which gave him the wrong impression.

A very loud crashing noise came from a short distance away. "Wait," Harry said. "Ya hear that?"

Nano turned around and ran over to a specific area. It jumped over a pile of stolen junk and started to fight. That certainly got the attention of Alex and Harry. Alex tried to run over, but Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"No ya don't," he said. "Ya know too much."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said as she flipped him over her shoulder. She ran past him trying to get air into his lungs. She had knocked the wind right out of him. She couldn't help but smile at that.

Ale ran round a large pile of junk when she heard Nano scream out in pain. She could clearly see that Nano's hand had fallen off and that was what it was distressing over. It reached down and re-connected the hand using its nano bots. It then reached over and grabbed Mikey and started to swing him around in circles.

"I'm coming, Mikey!" Donny yelled.

"Make it quick!" Mikey yelled back. "I'm going to hurl. Literally!"

Nano knocked Donny away with its other hand while still swinging Mikey in the other. "It's fast," Donny said.

"That's not a good thing, Don!" Mikey yelled.

"Nano!" Alex scolded. Nano looked over to his "sister" and listened to her carefully, but continued to swing Mikey in circles. "Put him down, Nano! It's not nice!"

Nano seemed to get a disappointed look and quickly let Mikey go, sending him flying into a pile of junk. He slid down it and to the feet of his brothers.

"That wasn't what I meant, Nano!" Alex scolded again.

"I'm gonna say that plan didn't go so well," Mikey muttered as he got to his feet.

"Plan B?" Donny asked Leo.

"Plan B," Leo confirmed.

They all started running off to the truck. It seemed like they still didn't see Alex. They started to drive off while Nano ran right on their tale. Alex tried to keep up, but keeping up with a truck going sixty miles an hour on foot wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do. It was one of the things on her list to never do again unless she absolutely had to.

"Go get 'em, kid!" Harry yelled. "You've got them on the run!"

Alex stopped as she ran past him. "Would you just shut up?" she shouted. She turned away and continued running after that. He was an annoying man. She didn't want to have to deal with him any longer.

Nano grabbed onto the Battle Shell and held it in place. With its other hand it started to beat on the side of the truck. She could tell that the turtles were having a rough time inside.

"Nano no!" Alex cried out. It wasn't listening. Daddy was its main priority at the moment, not big sissy. "Bad Nano!"

The back doors of the truck opened making Nano let go and back up. Raph came out of a red motorcycle and a red helmet. He started to drive circles around Nano as a distraction as the others drove off in the truck. Raph drove off in one direction to one of the car crushing machines. Nano was right behind him.

The truck came barreling up behind. Nano and rammed it in the back causing him to fall forward into the machine. The machine started to crush Nano into small pieces of scrap metal.

Before Alex could get anywhere close to the area the truck and cycle were driving off once more with a reconstructed Nano chasing after them. _Why can't they hold still for five minutes?_

Donny jumped out of the back of the truck and started to run off in another direction. Alex found it fit to follow him instead of the speeding vehicles. It somehow seemed a much safer route.

Alex stood at the bottom of the latter to the large magnet crane as Donny took a seat inside of cockpit. He started to move leavers to move the crane over Nano to pick him up. Nano screamed as Donny moved him over a vat of molten metal.

However, Donny wasn't that one to drop Nano into the vat. In hopes of saving nano, Harry shut off the power to the crane and nano fell in. Its blood curling scream sent shivers up Alex's spine. It reminded her too much of her parents scream the night they were killed right in front of her eyes.

"Daddy!" was the last thing Nano cried out as it melted in with the other metals.

Harry seemed to be mourning at the base of the vat. He was more upset that he was going to prison and his money marker was no long. He picked up a broken mask and said, "I can't believe you're gone. My one big lucky break and I broke ya. I'm sorry."

The last part shocked her, but she didn't really have time to think about it. The police were pulling up and she had to get out of there. She ran and hid where she knew the turtles were located. They were all watching from a distance where the police wouldn't see them.

Alex walked up from behind them and stood there with them unknowingly until they turned around to leave. They all jumped when they saw her behind them. _And I thought they were supposed to be ninjas_, thought Alex.

"There you are," Mikey said. He grabbed her tight and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "We were wondering where you were."

"Are you all right?" Donny asked, looking for any visible injuries. "Any injuries? Did it hurt you? Are you feeling nauseated?"

"Are you sure you're not a doctor, Donny?" Alex asked. "But yeah. I'm fine. Completely unharmed."

"Why'd it take you anyways?" asked Raph.

"It thought I was its sister. Poor thing. It was sweet. Just miss guided," Alex said. "Anywho," she said getting away from that subject. "Can we go now?"

"Sure, but one thing," Leo said. "I'm sorry."

Everyone seemed shocked at what came out of Leo's mouth. He never really apologized for much of anything. He didn't make a habit of doing things wrong so there wasn't much need to apologize.

"I can see you can take perfectly good care of yourself," Leo said. "I was wrong to say you would get in the way. Plus, we all get in the way sometimes. So, what do you say? Friends?" He stuck out his three fingered hand for Alex to shake.

She smiled and took his hand in hers. "Friends," she confirmed. "Now, let's go see April."

"You know," Mikey began as they drove back to April's place in the back of the truck. "I feel find of bad for the little bot."

"Little?" Raph asked.

"You know," Mikey said. "He was kind of like a little kid."

"Too bad he had such a rotten parent," Donny said.

"But he had a cool older sister," Mikey said. He nudged Alex which made her smile.

Donny pulled over in the alley at April's place. They all got out of the car and started to walked to the door.

"I'm just glad the fighting's over," Leo said.

The all walked in through the door to hear April and the guy that had been fighting Raph with the hockey mask arguing. Alex didn't know who the heck he was or why he was there, but she thought it was funny that April and him were fighting.

"I only got hurt because I was saving you!" he yelled

"Oh," April said insulted. "So, you think I need saving, is that it?"

"You twist around everything I saw," he said. "Ah woman!"

"Why of all the myopic misogynistic –"

"Geez," he complained. He accidentally knocked over a vase with his flailing arm movements. "How can we even talk if won't speaking English?"

"I told you to watch the antiques," April yelled. "You big ape!"

"I think they want to be alone," Mikey said.

The guys started to slowly back up back to the door. Alex turned around and said, "Don't leave me here alone with them!"

"You're on your own," Raph said as he closed the door.

Alex groaned as she turned to the two fighting people. She just shook her head and walked upstairs to make herself a decent late night dinner. Stake sounded good to her.


	5. Darkness on the Edge of Town

**I'm sorry this chapter is short. I'll try and get the next one to be longer or at least as long as the other chapters.  
><strong>**~ Northie**

Chapter 5  
>"Darkness on the Edge of Town"<p>

Alex was sitting in the living room with April one quiet night. April was watching a movie on TV while Alex was sitting on the ground building a pyramid of cards. April and Alex played cards a lot and seemed to have a deck in every room of the apartment. She was already up to her sixth pack of cards on the tower. April would take a picture every couple of minutes so that if it fell over Alex would have proof she had build something that big.

She was working on the last part. She had to put two cards against each other at the top of the tower. It was the hardest part. She was holding her breathe and trying to hold her hands still so she wouldn't mess up. April had the camera ready, but her attention was on the TV.

The moment she touched the cards to the top April took the shot and everything went black. The Television turned off and the lights in the room went black. Nothing was making any noise. The machines were completely dead.

"You have got to be kidding me," Alex cried as she felt the card scattered around the floor in front of her. "That sucks! I was so close!"

"I was just at the best part of the movie!" April whined.

Alex stood up and walked over to the window with April right behind her. They could see almost nothing. All the lights on that part of the city were off. It was for sure a black out.

"I'm going to go fine some candles," April said.

"I'm going to out and see if I can find something wrong," Alex said.

Alex walked over to the door and heard April said, "Be careful."

"I will," she replied as she shut the door. She started to walked down the streets randomly after she got out of the antique store. She wasn't sure where she should go to look for the problem.

Alex had been acting more herself after the whole Nano incident. She was hanging out with her friends at school. Her appetite was back, which seemed like she couldn't stop eating. April and Alex talked things over. She knew of what happened with Marcus, but wasn't going to tell the guys for Alex's sake. She wanted her to tell them when she was good and ready.

What Harry Parker said actually made sense to her. They were protecting her, but from what? What could it be that she couldn't fight off on her own? What was it that attacked their family in the first place? Then there was the symbol. What could it possible stand for?

"Get with the program, bro. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," she heard Mikey say.

Alex had perfect vision, but with all the lights being out she could barely see anything apart from the street she was on. She followed the way that Mikey's voice came from and saw them all standing with different sports gear.

Mikey had his skateboard. Raph was in roller blades. Leo was on a scooter and Donny was on bike. Alex wasn't one for summer sports, but if she had to pick then she'd go with roller blading. She was more of a winder sports kind of girl. She loved snowboarding, skiing, ice skating and her favorite was ice hockey. Other than that she mainly stuck to her martial arts.

"What's the opportunity of a lifetime?" asked Alex as she walked up to the three turtles. Donny was still riding.

Mikey smiles and said, "It's a one in a lifetime opportunity to session some surface terrain."

"That sounds like fun to me," she said. "Let me see what you've got!" she said enjoying herself.

"Hey," Donny shushed as he stopped his bike in front of the group of four. "Check this out."

At the far wall of the museum that were standing out in front of had two figures scaling up the building with a rope. They flipped up to the top and in through the skylight at the top. It was obvious they were ninjas by their moves.

The five people moved to watch safely behind some decorative bushes. They watched as the ninjas snuck into the museum clearly up to no good. Their outfits seem familiar to Alex. Then it hit her. It was the same kind of outfit Marcus had been wearing. That just gave her more questions that were unanswered.

"Didn't we fight these clowns once before?" asked Mikey.

"You have?" Alex asked shocked. She didn't like what she was hearing.

"Yeah," Donny confirmed. "And we nearly got waxed."

Raph stood up from the crouching other four. "Who's up for some payback?" he asked.

That she really didn't like the sound of, but she wanted answers and being there meant she might get some. So, she went alone. Plus, it had been a while since she got to spar with anyone. All she had was a punching bag in her room. That wasn't doing her much good in sparing department.

They all climbed in the same way the other ninjas did. They used their ropes. In no time they were at the time and jumping in to see the two ninjas taking a sword from a glass case.

Leo threw a shuriken at them which caused them to stop what they were doing. "Gift shop's on the first floor, boys," Leo said. "But they don't take kindly to shop lifters and neither do we."

One ninja took out his sword and the other went to take the merchandise. Raph threw another shuriken at him which cause him to pause again. "Now," Raph said. "Before you try to make off with the goods you might want to consider a few things. One; you're outnumbered. Two; don't let the pretty faces fool you. We're tougher than we look."

Five more ninjas jumped in through the skylight to their right. Eight more were on the level above them. Three were behind Alex to her right."And three; we're about to get our butts seriously hammered," Mikey said.

Alex was further back in the room than the turtles. The turtles were surrounded by their own ninja attackers while Alex was surrounded by three attackers of her own. _She felt important_. The turtles fought their own battle while Alex waited for the three to around her to make a move.

They seemed to just be circling her making her sweet and make her miss something. It was something her brother would always do to see how she would react. She always laughed after the sessions they'd do that. It never worked on her.

_It can't be_, she told herself. _This is too much like them. Why would they be doing this? They never favored criminals and now they are on their side? Something's up. I know it's them, their moves, their postured are too much like them to not be them. But what are they doing here?_

"Come on guys," she whispered to them. She didn't want the turtles to overhear. "What the shell are you doing?" she asked. "Oh great, now I'm starting to talk like them," she muttered. "This isn't you. What are you doing?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Nathan said. Nathan was the middle boy.

"I told you to forget about us, Alex. What are you doing here?" asked Marcus.

"I want answers," she stated. "You don't know what it's like. I thought I'd never see you again. Now you pop up here in weird ninja outfits and say to forget about you? How can you say that?"

"If only you knew," Zack said. Zack was the youngest of the triplets. He was visibly the smallest too. "You're safer this way."

"Hmm," Alex pretended to think for a moment. "Which to choose, which to choose," she muttered. "Safety or answers? What do you think I choose? If you really know me so well then why don't you tell me?"

"Don't make this any harder than this has to be, Alex. It's not fun for us either," Nathan said.

"Really now? Because you look to me to be having a whole lot of fun making me suffer. You have no idea what I've been through."

"Try us," Zack said.

"After what happened at the dojo I moved in with April. Got a job which turned out to be for a mad scientist who tried to kill me and April. I almost got my leg cut off by a robot. I almost got run over by a madman on a motorcycle with a bat, hockey stick and some golf clubs. My own brother tried to kill me in Central Park. I went into a deep depression which included no friends, food or leaving my room for a couple of weeks. I almost forgot. I got kidnapped by a robot that thought I was its sister. Nano got bless your soul, if you had one. And lastly my card house fell down because of this stupid power outage that you caused!" she almost yelled. "How does that sound to you?"

"What the hell have you been up too, Alex?" asked Zack.

"You tried to kill her, Marcus?" Nathan almost yelled.

"No," Marcus protested. "I tried to knock her out. There's a difference. "

"Why were you making a card house?" asked Zach. "Were you that bored?"

"It's better than what you've been up too," Alex agued. "You're robbing museum!"

The three brothers stopped for a moment after that. They looked to each other in shame. _Well, if they are ashamed of robbing museums that why are they doing it? It isn't like they didn't have a choice,_ thought Alex.

"We don't really have much of a choice, Alex. So be grateful," Marcus said. "This could be you. Would you be happy then?"

"What are you talking about?" Alex pressed. "Why would I be robbing museums?"

Police sirens could be heard far off in the distance. Alex knew they were going there. She had to get out of there as fast as she could. With or without her brothers. "You should leave," Alex muttered. "I'm too angry and confuse to look at you."

"We're sorry, Alex. Really we are," Nathan said. He jumped up to one of the ropes stood on the ledge waiting for the other two.

"Bye sis," Zach said. He did that same.

Marcus walked up closer to Alex. He check around to make sure nobody was looking before kissing her forehead. He looked down at her and she looked up to him with sad eyes. "I wish there could be another way, Alex, but right now there isn't one. I know you'll find out sooner or later what's going on and then I hope you can forgive us for our actions."

He jumped up and stood there for a moment with the other two looking down at their sister who was looking up. Then they were gone. She watched her brother once again leave her. This time, however she knew she would see them again. She didn't know quite how yet, but she would find a way.

Alex had split off from the turtles as they left the museum. She went back to April to get some rest. Maybe that would get her head to stop spinning. She was too confused. She had to do something to get her mind off of everything that happened that night.


	6. The Way of Invisibility

Chapter 6

"The Way of Invisibility"

Alex walked into the lair to see the turtles standing behind the couch watching the hockey mask guy sitting on the couch eating pizza. She walked up behind them unnoticed. She was shocked they still didn't notice her. _Really, they aren't great at sensing my presence,_ thought Alex. _My brothers could at least sense I was there. Are they really ninjas?_

"Who the heck is he anyways?" she asked. She never did get the whole story on how they got his head on straight that night in Central Park. She didn't even know what the guys name was. It was kind of sad having him around and not knowing who the heck he was.

Everyone seemed to jump. Mikey yelled. "Don't do that, Alex! You're going to give me a heart attack!"

"Sorry Mikey. What can I do to make it up to you?" she asked sweetly. She was getting a kick out of it. She liked it a lot better when she was on good speaking terms with them instead of being angry at them.

"Give me a hug!" he yelled. He picked her up and swung her around. They were both laughing.

"So," the guy said. "She gets to walk right in and I have to call? Is it because she's a girl?"

"Pretty much," Donny muttered to Alex. She giggled. "Not the girl thing, I mean. I'm not a myopic misogynistic turtle."

"Don't worry, Donny. I know," she said giving him a side hug. "No," she said. "I have business to do. That's why I'm here, but is anyone going to answer my question?"

"You know him," Raph said. "He's the guy we were chasing, remember? Friday night at Central Park?"

"You didn't let me go, _remember_?" she mocked. She turned to the guy and stuck out her hand, "I'm Alex O'Neil, April's niece."

"Casey Jones," he said. He took her hand and then let it go. "What's the business you have here?"

"I need to speak to Master Splinter," Alex said. She started to look around the open area for him. He wasn't anywhere in sight.

"About what?" Leo asked.

She smirked. "Alone," she said.

"He's in there," Mikey said. He was pointing to an area with traditional Japanese doors. "Is it about the graffiti?"

"Graffiti? What are you talking about?" Alex asked.

"Nothing new," Donny said. "Just some people that want us dead."

Alex shrugged. "You've got that right," she muttered as she walked to the doors.

She knocked on the doors and waited for a response. "Enter," she heard him say from the other said. She opened the doors and walked in.

It was a small room. Not much was in it. There was a table with a couple pictures and a mat for meditating, but that was about it. It was a peaceful room. She closed the door behind her.

"Alex," Splinter said. "How are you?"

"Very well, thank you. How are you?" she asked. She took a seat in front of him. She was going to be there a while.

"Well," he said. "What is it I may help you with?"

"It's about what I know and what I know you know," she said. "Those ninja that tried to get the sword and the three toed foot symbol. You know what it is, don't you? I need answers, Master. I think you may have some. "

"Master," he muttered.

"That was another thing I wanted to talk to you about," Alex said slightly embarrassed. "I want to continue with my training. I've been practicing on my own, but I need someone to help guide me to perfect my ninjutsu. I would like to ask you if I could become a student of yours."

"I would be honored to be your teacher," Splinter said. "On the other note; I do know things. Things that I hope I never have to tell my sons, but I feel it is essential to tell you. You are involved whether you like it or not."

"I understand. Thank you," Alex said.

"They are called Foot Ninja. Their leader is Oroku Saki, but is also known as the Shredder. My master Yoshi was a great warrior. He was killed by the Shredder because he thought he worked for his enemies. Not long after that I found my sons," he explained. "What is it that you know, child?"

She gulped. "I told you what happened to my family. You remember me telling you my brothers were missing, right?"

"Of course," Splinter said.

"I found them," she stated.

"I am getting the impression that it wasn't the happiest reunion," Splinter said. "And that it has something to do with the Foot Ninja."

"Yes," she sighed. "They are working for them. I don't know why, but I was talking to them and they said some things that leave me confused and I have no idea what to do or think."

"What is it that they said?" he asked. "I would like to offer my assistance.'

"There are a couple things," she stated. "The first was that I should forget about them. That goes along with them saying that I was safer not knowing anything. They said it could have been me to be robbing the museum or working for them or whatever it is they are doing. Lastly, they said they didn't have a choice. I don't understand any of it."

"Maybe if they kidnapped you as well than you would have to be doing the same as them. They don't want you to get captured or hurt by looking for them. If you don't know what to look for than maybe you don't know where to look so you can't get hurt. The Shredder is a ruthless man. He may be making them do this. If the Shredder knows where you are then maybe he is black mailing them into doing what he wants."

"I didn't think of it that way," she said. "But what do I do? I want them back."

"I would suggest meditating on it," he said. "It always helps when you need to find answers. No matter what you chose, we will be with you. You are our friend." Splinter stood up from his spot on the ground and started to walk to the door. "Come," he said. "Let us meditate on this."

Alex stood up and walked out of the room with Splinter. They sat outside of that small room on the ground. Splinter was seated to her right. Before she closed her eyes she could see the Donny was at his desk working on something. Leo had been practicing his act of invisibility. Mikey and Casey were seated on over by the TV's.

Alex closed her eyes and started to think about everything that had been going on. First, she knew she was just glad her brothers were alive. Even though they were doing acts of illegal things. She was still glad they were well. It was better knowing that they were alive than dead. She found it odd. She would have killed her brothers if they even got detention when everything was normal, but now she was just glad they were alive. She really didn't care what they were doing. Well, if they killed someone than she might just have to kill them, but that was one moral she knew they would never break.

In, out. In, out.

_They said to leave them alone. Maybe I should, _Alex thought. _For the moment, at least. I'm not giving up on them. I just want to find out more about them before I get further into this. Going in blind is never a good thing. I have to know something about them, but how much of this can I do on my own? Master Splinter said he'd stick by me and I know the guys would too, but Master said he hoped the guys never had to find out about the Foot Ninja and the Shredder. What to do, what to do._

In, out. In, out.

"Hey look," Mikey said. "Alex's meditating again."

In, out. In, out.

"What's so great about that? You guys do it all the time, right?" Casey commented.

In, out. In, out.

"Yeah," Raph said. "But it's a game too. If you can get her out of her state of mind than she gets you ice cream." Alex could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "Casey, why don't you try it? I tried."

Alex almost smirked at that one comment, but she continued to focus on her breathing. In, out. In, out. She wasn't going to let that myopic misogynistic ape win. No, this would be way too much fun.

"Why not," Casey muttered. It took a minute for him to get over to Alex. "Blah, blah, blah." Alex could tell he was making faces in front of her.

In, out. In, out.

"Hey," Casey said. "You know what a baboons butt looks like? I didn't until I looked at your face."

In, out. In, out. She couldn't help but feel insulted. She knew she wasn't the prettiest person in the world, but she couldn't have been that bad, could see?

"That wasn't very nice," Leo said.

"This is tougher than I thought," he commented. "I'm gonna have to break out the good stuff." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Yo mama's so ugly; she works as a Halloween mask model- twelve months a year."

In, out. In, out. In, out.

"Yo mama's so dumb she got locked in a grocery store and starved," he said.

In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out.

"Yo mama's so dumb she can't read an audio book," he said.

In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out.

"Yo mama is so dumb that when she looked in a mirror she thought she had a new friend," he said.

In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out.

"She so ugly that it broke after that," he added.

In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out.

"Oh," he said like he was realizing something wondrous. "So that's where you get it from."

Alex tried to ignore everything he was saying, but she couldn't take it any longer. The moment he mentions the word "mother" she couldn't help put picker her beautiful mother sitting in her living room watching television with a bowl of popcorn. Her beautiful strawberry blonde hair handing loosely at her shoulders. Her blue eyes watching the television intently. She was a fit woman who could eat like a pig. She was one of the sweetest people alive and she was murdered.

The image of her mother from the night she was killed would always be burned in her head. Her hair was in tangles while her blue eyes starred at nothing in particular. Her neck had been slashed and her pale skin had been stained with her red blood. It was something that nobody should have ever seen. Especially not her daughter.

Alex opened her eyes to look at the man in front of her. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. She hated to remember her mother like that, but he had left her not choice. She wasn't one to cry in front of people. It was a sign of weakness. Being weak was something she couldn't let herself be.

She stood up from her spot on the ground and walked a couple steps towards the rejoicing Casey Jones. However, when he saw her face he stopped gloating and gulped. She had a fierce look in her eyes that could kill.

"If you _ever_," she threatened. "_Ever_ say anything about my mother again, I will _ruin_ you."

"I was only jokin'," he said.

Alex turned away and walked off to the bathroom. She didn't really need to be in there, but she wanted to meditate where she wouldn't be disturbed. She just wanted to clear her head at that point. She sat down and started to relax her mind.

"What's her problem?" asked Casey.

"You," she heard Donny mutter to himself.  
>"I don't know," Mikey said. "I've never seen her like that. Have you guys ever seen her cry?"<p>

"No," Leo said. "I'm worried about her. Master Splinter, does this have anything to do with what she was talking to you about?"

"It may," he said. "But I think it has more to do with something else."

"Like what?" Mikey asked.

"I will not tell you," he said. "It is not my place to tell it to you, but I will give you this to ponder on. Have you ever wondered why she lives with her aunt, Ms. O'Neil?"

It was silent after that. Maybe they were contemplating on what he said. Maybe they went back to whatever it was they had been doing before. Or it could have been the fact that Alex had fallen asleep while meditating. She was tied. She had been up the last couple of nights thinking. She didn't any sleep what so ever.

o-0-o

"Alex," someone said. "Come on. Wake up. We have to go."

Alex opened her eyes and looked up to see Donny shaking her shoulder slightly. He looked to be wearing some sort of weird goggles on his head. He looked really weird, to say the least. She had no idea why he was wearing them, but there had to be a reason.

"Are those thermal heat vision goggles or night vision goggles?" she asked. She was a smart girl. She knew that it had to be either one of those. She did work for a Stocktronics for a while, after all. She knew technology when she saw it.

"Thermal," he confirmed. "Here," he said, handing her a head set. "We have to go. Raph's in trouble."

Alex got up and put the goggles on with the help of Donny. She didn't want to break them, after all. They both walked out of the restroom to the group. Mikey and Casey weren't anywhere in sight, but Leo was there and Master Splinter was meditating by his room.

"So, what's he gotten himself into this time?" she asked.

"Invisible ninjas," Leo replied.

Alex was stunned for a moment. "Okay, now I get why we have the goggles."

"Come on," Leo said. The three of them started to run out into the sewers. "We're going to have to split up," Leo said in the head set. "Mike and Casey, you cover above ground. Me, Don and Alex'll cover below."

"It's Don, Alex and I," Alex muttered to Donny, who was watching the monitor of where Raph was. He snickered. Leo didn't hear.

They parked the boat thing that Donny had created and ran the rest of the way. The tunnels were getting smaller so it wasn't fitting. Plus, they were close enough that they didn't want the invisible ninjas to hear them coming. So, it was just easier to run. Nobody was complaining.

They came to the end of the tunnel and stopped. It was a good drop, but it was nothing for trained ninjas like themselves. They could see Raph standing by the edge of the whirlpool in the middle. He was trying to figure out a place to go. He had no clue that there was eight Foot Ninjas behind him.

"I spy with my turtle eye," Donny started. "Some goons that need a good battling."

Leo and Donny took out their weapons and got ready to jump down. Alex just sighed. "Why is it always me that doesn't have something to fight with?" she murmured. "I guess I'll just have to find one eventually."

Leo and Donny jumped down with Alex right behind them. Jumping from such heights was dangerous no matter what. They just had to make sure to land correctly. Alex always got a thrill jumping from such heights. It got her adrenaline going.

"Hey," they heard Raph greet surprised. "Huh?"

"One side!" Donny and Leo yelled at the same time to Raph. They both kicked two guys as they landed.

"Uh, guys? What are you…?" Raph started.

Alex landed on one guys back. She got thrown to the side in front of Leo and Donny. She quickly jumped up and took her fighting stance.

"Ever hear the one about the invisible ninjas?" Donny joked.

All eight ninja jumped the three ninjas with the goggles. Alex managed to dodge but jumping over the large mass of ninjas, but Leo and Donny didn't. They got spun around and thrown. Casey and Mikey had arrived and stood behind Leo and Donny.

"Hey, did I mention that these guess were really strong too?" Casey mentioned.

"That might have been useful info," Leo groaned.

It was a funny sight to see Raph trying to fight the ninjas on his own. He was just aimlessly throwing punches and kicks. He'd get hit and turn in that direction, but the ninja would already have moved and hit him again. They were kind of enjoying the show.

"Think we should give him a hand?" Mikey suggested.

They all agreed. Leo, Mikey and Donny all rushed in from one side while Casey threw some slime on some of the ninjas so Raph could see. Alex rushed in on the other side to help. This was getting too fun. She needed something like this to get herself back to normal.

Raph took out the two guys who had mud on themselves. "Aw, much better."

"Now you see 'em. Now ya don't," Mikey said as he took out two more guys.

"Their cloaking devices seem to be located somewhere near the chest plates," Donny called out.

Leo got a couple of the guy devised to break along with Donny. They fell to the ground with a loud thud. They had fallen into a puddle of water which caused them to get electrocuted. It wasn't lethal, though. They were still alive.

"Can I call 'em or what?" Donny said.

"Little help here," Alex yelled out. She had two guys going at it with her. However, they both had two swords each. Alex had absolutely nothing to fight with. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to fight two guys with two swords each when you have absolutely nothing to fend yourself with? It's not fun!"

She did, however, manage to take care of them on her own. She was stronger than she let on to be. She just wanted someone to complain to. Why not complain to them, they complained much more than she did.

"So, I guess that's that," Raph said.

"Whoa," Casey yelled.

Everyone looked over to see Casey being held by one ninja on the railing of the walkway above them. He had Casey hanging over the edge over the whirl pool of water beneath them. All he was holding on to was Casey's golf bag on his back.

"Drop your weapons and surrender," the guys said in a deep raspy voice. "My grip is loosening. I suggest you drop your weapons, now."

"Don't do it guys. I'm not worth it," Casey called. Of course he wanted them to save him. He was just trying to look like a hero, but there was some honesty in Casey Jones.

"You know," Donny started. "He's got a point."

"You're starting to sound like Mikey, Don," Leo said.

However, they all dropped their weapons. Well, except for Alex who didn't have anything.

"Hey," Raph said. "Where is Mikey?"

Up above their head, even above the ninja and Casey up on a pipe was Mikey. He was quietly walked with great balance and silence, although they could see that he was talking to himself. They couldn't hear what, but it had to be something remotely sarcastic or funny. That was just Mikey.

He jumped down and landed on top of the ninja holding Casey. They both fell over. Mikey held on to the railing with an "Oops" face. He had meant to catch Casey as he pushed the other guy over. That hadn't gone as planned, but when did anything ever go as planned for them?

Donny managed to get passed one of the Foot and grab his staff. He jumped into the large hole and grabbed onto a pipe while he reached his staff out for Casey to take hold of. Casey grabbed it and hung above the water. Donny swung him over and he landed somewhat gracefully on the ground with Mikey and Don right behind him.

Everyone had their weapons back. Alex, Leo and Raph took their placed next to the other three, taking their fighting stances. They managed to get all of the Foot Ninja into the whirl pool after their buddy.

"Thanks guys," Casey said, taking his mask off. "I owe ya."

"We take cash, personal checks, most major credit cards," Mikey joked.

"Man, I'm beat. Maybe I should just crash at you guys' place tonight," he suggested.

They didn't like that idea. Their shocked and horrified expressions made Alex laugh. "No!" Leo shouted. "I mean, nothing beats the comfort of sleeping in your own bed." He laughed nervously.

"We'll give you a ride," Donny offered. "We'll have you home in no time."

"We'll carry you up the stairs. Tuck you in. Heck, we'll even read you a bedtime story," Mikey said. The three of those guys started to push Casey in the direction to leave. Raph and Alex ran after them laughing at their actions.

"What about me?" Alex asked as they got Casey in the truck. "Am I allowed to get dropped off, too? I have school in the morning which stinks because it's already late as is. "

"Of course," Donny said. "All abroad the turtle taxi!"

The drive was loud with Casey in the truck. However, after they dropped him off home the ride was much more pleasantly quiet. Donny was driving with Leo in the passenger seat. Mikey and Raph were in the back with Alex. Mikey was next to the girl while Raph was on the other side of the truck.

Casey had lived on the other side of the city than April and Alex. The ride would take longer than they originally thought with traffic and all. At least it was later at night so it wasn't that bad. They'd be there in twenty to thirty minutes. So, they had time to talk and joke around with each other.

After a couple minutes of joking around about the chaos with Casey things became quiet and slightly awkward. Alex knew something was going to happen, but she wasn't sure what. She had a guess that it was about what happened earlier that day when she snapped at Casey. Master Splinter had told then to think about why she was living at April's place and not at her parents' place.

"So," Leo said. "Can we ask you something, Alex?"

"Well," she began. "You just did, but go ahead. Shoot."

"Why is it that you live with April?" he asked.

Alex grew quiet for a moment. She wanted to find the right words to tell them. She knew it would come sometime, but she knew it never would be easy. Talking about it would _never_ be easy. Talking to Master Splinter was one thing, but for some reason it seemed harder to tell the guys than him. She didn't know if it was because she was more comfortable with Master or she didn't want the guys to think of her differently. Although she was very comfortable around the guys so that didn't justify it much. She thought that maybe it was a little of both.

"My parents were killed a couple months ago," she blurted out. _Better to get straight to the point_, she thought. "They were murdered in front of my brothers and I. April is my only living relative that is old enough to take care of me. Actually, she is our only living relative."

"Your brothers?" Raph asked. "How come we've never me them?"

"They're missing," she replied. "The night my parents were killed they took my brothers. I know they're alive, but that about all," she sort of lied. She didn't want to tell them her brothers worked for the Foot Ninjas that had been attacking them and stealing things from the city. She was embarrassed slightly. She wanted to find out more about what was really going on before she got anyone else involved.

Master Splinter said he'd stick with her through everything and help her if she needed, but she was already a burden as is. She had already asked if he would be her sensei. Wasn't that enough? She was their friend, but how close were they to see if they would risk their lives to free her brothers? Plus, Master Splinter said he hoped he never had to get the guys involved with the Foot. If there was a possible way for her to get them back without involving them than she would take that any day. She didn't want her friends to get hurt.

"I'm so sorry," Leo said.

"You shouldn't have had to go through all that," Donny said.

"Nobody should," Mikey added.

"How do you know they are still alive?" Raph asked. "I mean, isn't it usually the first twenty-four hours? Not to sound rude or depressing or anything."

"I have a feeling. It's like a mother's intuition, but I'm not their mother. I'm their sister," she said. "It's like how you would know. Trust me, you'd know. I just hope you never have to experience that."

"If you'd like," Donny started to offer. "We could help you look or something."

"No," she said a little too fast. She got a couple funny looks like they knew something was up, but they pushed it aside. "It's all right. I'm just happy to know they are alive. They're probably in some other state or county or something like that," she lied. She did ponder that when she didn't know they were alive though. The feeling she described to them about knowing was true. She did feel that when she didn't know.

"Well," Donny said. "We're here."

Mikey opened the back doors for her to get out. Before she did so, however, she walked to the front of the car and gave Leo and Donny hugs. As she passed Raph she hugged him too, then lastly Mikey as she got out. She didn't know what made her do so, but she did. She was comfortable enough around them to make physical contact. They were her friends after all.

"Bye guys," she said. "I'll see you soon."

They all said their goodbyes. She watched as Mikey shut the back doors of the truck and as they drove down the street until they were out of her line of view. She sighed. Lying to them wasn't something she liked. She didn't like being dishonest with people, but if it involved their safety than she would keep it from them. She'd lie to keep them safe.

With that, she turned around and walked into April's place. She needed a good night's rest. She had school in the morning. _Crap,_ she though. _I have three tests tomorrow and I never studied! Tomorrow's going to suck. _


	7. Fallen Angel

Chapter 7  
>"Fallen Angel"<p>

It was a cloudy night, but the weather was nice and cool. The air was surprisingly fresh for New York City. Those made Alex want to go out and spend time outside instead of in the stuffy old apartment of April's. Not that it wasn't nice or anything, she was just an outside girl. Why not take advantage of the nice weather while you could? With the Weather in New York, you had to take all the nice weather that you could.

She was walking down the streets on that Friday night with her hands in her jean pocket and her green zip up hoodie undone. Her white tank top left her nice and cool. It wasn't anything fancy that she was wearing, just something that she would wear if she had to run some errands, relaxing at the apartment or going for a walk, like she was doing.

She took in a deep breath and exhaled it happily. She was enjoying her time alone. April was usually busy in the antique store so Alex would help her down there while doing her homework or chores. It was fun to hang out with April, but Alex enjoyed her quiet alone time too. Just like April did when Alex wasn't there. It didn't mean they didn't like hanging out. People just need time to themselves every once in a while.

"Hey!" she heard a familiar voice yell. She turned around to see Casey running up to her in his usual crime fighting attire. "Alex, wait up!" So, she did. "How are you?" he asked.

"I'm well and you?" she asked politely.

"Good," he said. "I wanted to apologize for the other day. I didn't mean to hurt ya feelings or anything. You know that right? I was just messing around."

She smiled at him. She knew he never meant to hurt her. He didn't know anything of her past, which a lot of people didn't. It was something she didn't post out to the world. "I know. Thanks," she replied. "I except you apology."

"Great," he said. "Sooo," he trailed off for a moment. "How's April doin'?"

Alex smiled even bigger. She knew they had some connection. Every once in a while April would ramble on about how annoying and rude Casey was, but nobody ever got on her nerves that much. She knew April liked him. She just had to get it out of her and Casey so that maybe they'd stop fighting and go out sometime.

"She's well," she replied in a knowing tone. He looked at her slightly funny. "Why do you asked?"

"N-no reason," he said. "Well, got to go. Fightin' crime with the guys tonight." He turned around to leave. "See ya!"

"Bye! Say hi to the guys for me!" she called.

"Will do!" With that, he was gone.

She smiled once more to herself as she turned back the way she was walking to continue on her nightly stroll. She walked a couple blocks when she started to hear footsteps behind her. She was just hoping that it was someone who was walking on their own, but there were a lot more than just a couple of people walking home from a late night movie. Or something of that sort.

She decided to turn down a street to see if she could get a side glance at the people behind her and in hopes that they would continue on straight and not down the street she was going. However, it really didn't shock her when she saw seven Purple Dragon goons walking behind her with some crow bars and chains. Her pace got faster.

_Of course this has to happen to the ninja girl_, she thought. _There goes my happy mood._

Alex walked alley after alley and street after street to try and loose them, but it seemed like they were in better shape than she thought. They were street smart. They knew it when someone was trying to lose them. It wasn't going to be that easy. No, it never was.

She looked back one more time to see only four. _Maybe the other three got tired and went home._ When she looked back around she could see three goons blocking her path. _Of course they didn't go home. They're too persistent. And rude. And Annoying. And mean. And perverts._ Really the list could go on and on and on and on and on. Okay, the point had been made and shown.

"She's kinda cute," one guy said. "Can I keep her?"

"No you dipstick," another guy commented. "Hun will want to talk to her. She knows the guy in the hockey mask."

"But can't we just play with her a little?" said someone behind her.

"Well," the one who protested thought. "Maybe a little wouldn't her. Us that is."

Alex didn't like the sound of that. She wished she could run, but she was trapped. She was surrounded by seven really strong looking guys with chains and crow bars. She didn't stand a chance. Her best defense was to not fight their blows. It was the only way. They'd end up getting bored with her not fighting back and just drag her to wherever it was that the Hun guy was.

That was just what happened. After about fifteen to twenty minutes of the guys beating the crap out of her and one actually drawing a knife (she got a nasty gash on her side, luckily she didn't need stitches) and dragged her by her hair to the Purple Dragons hide out.

She was placed in a cell in the basement of the place. Her hands were chained together and that was chained to the wall. She couldn't reach the door to pick the lock and her chains on her hands would allow her to move her hands were much. Plus, the pain in her side made her not want to move.

She was in there for a little while alone until a very tall, very muscular man with blonde hair walked in. On his face were three scars. They looked like an animal had scratched him. She wandered if he was one of the people who helped kill Master Splinter's master. Yoshi, his name was. She smirked at the thought of Master Splinter in a normal rats form doing ninjutsu.

"What's your name, girl." His voice was very deep and very harsh.

Alex just looked at him blankly. She was trying not to show the pain and feel on her face or eyes. No, that would only make things worse for her. She had to stay calm and collected. Fear was not an option.

"What is your name!" he screamed.

Alex almost jumped and cowered at the loudness and anger in his voice. She did, however, cave into the question. "Alex," she murmured.

"Alex," he repeated. "Now, I have heard things around the city. Things that claim that you know Casey Jones, the man in the hockey mask. He's been creating a large problem for the Purple Dragons."

"I don't know who you are talking about," she stated. "You have the wrong girl."

"Oh do I now?" he asked. "Then why do I have pictures of you talking to the "vigilante" just hours ago?" He threw done a couple of picture on the ground.

Alex could see it was her and Casey talking about April. She could tell by the smirk on her face that that was the point in their conversation. "He was just a guy asking direction," she lied.

Hun growled. That slightly took Alex by surprise. "You're lying!" he yelled. "I hate liars!"

"Well," she stated back. "I hate gangs and mustard, but you don't see me doing anything to ruin it, now do you?" The mustard thing was just in there to bother Hun. Although, she really didn't like mustard either. She thought whoever did like it had absolutely no taste in good condiments.

"You are testing my patients," he muttered. He was pinching the bridge of his nose with his pointer figure and thumb.

"And you are wasting my time," she blurted out without thinking. "Now that we have everything cleared up, may I go home now?" She knew it was useless saying, but a girl could hope, right?

"No," he said. He grew a devious smile on his face that got Alex to take a step back. "I have plans for you." He turned away and left after that.

Alex walked over to the corner of the cell and sat with her head on her knees. Her hands were clutching the cut on her side. She was going to have bruised for a week after this, if she survived whatever Hun had in store for her. The cut on her side would take about that time to start to fully heal into a scab.

She sighed one last time before falling asleep.

o-0-o

"Listen up hairballs!" a voice yelled.

The person had startled Alex and woke her up from her light slumped. It took her a moment to remember where she was and why she was in so much pain. It was the person in front of hers faults. If he hadn't of stopped to talk to her than maybe she would be home, sleeping in her bed. Although, it wasn't all her fault. If she had run like hell before the thugs could corner her than maybe she could have avoided the situation too. She wouldn't know.

"It's going to take a lot more than chains to break down Casey Jones!" Casey yelled. "You hear me? I won't rest until every last one of you dragon clowns is behind bars or pushing' up daisies!"

Hun walked in laughing at Casey. "Big words, vigilante. Did I ever tell you how much fun I had burning down your father's store when you were a kid?"

"Least I had a father," Casey retorted. "Punk."

Hun reached through the bars and picked up Casey by his shirt. "Laugh now, sucker, 'cause the Dragons are having a little smack down contest and you're the prize. Along with your friend, of course. Whoever wins gets to whack your sorry butts once and for all."

Casey turned and looked at Alex for the first time. The only reason he knew Alex was there was because Hun had mentioned her. Otherwise he would have been completely clueless; although that wouldn't have been the first time she would have seen him clueless.

"Alex," he started.

"I'm fine, Casey. Really," she said.

"You're bleeding," he stated.

"It's only a cut, I swear. I'm fine," she repeated. She stood up to prove her point. "How are you? How'd they catch you?"

"A girl I know who isn't much younger than you, wants to be a Purple Dragon and I came here to stop her. Her name's Angel," Casey exclaimed. "I promised I'd keep her on the right tracks, you know. I guess I haven't been doin' a great job."

"Don't say that," Alex replied. "You can't do everything Casey. Not everyone can be saved. Don't beat yourself up over it."

Before Casey could reply a ceiling tile fell to the ground and a girl with purple hair in pig tails jumped down. Her short cut sweat shirt was bluish green and her arms are bandaged up to make herself look tougher. The girl couldn't be older than Alex. She looked to be a year or two younger. She must have been who Casey was talking about, Angel.

"Angel?" Casey muttered shocked.

"I- I heard the whole thing, Casey. I'm so sorry I got you into this mess. I'm gonna get you out of this, I swear." The girl knelt down to try to pick the lock of the cage they were in. It was no use. "I can't do it. This is all my fault," she cried.

"It's all right, Angel. Don't worry," Casey comforted.

"Casey, what are we gonna do?" she asked, getting a hold of herself.

"Listen," Casey said. "I have some friends that can help. Real good friends. Go to the abandoned warehouse at East Manliar. Ask for Raphael. Hurry," he ushered.

"I wonder how she is going to react to them being turtles," Alex wondered.

"I don't know," Casey muttered. "But they better hurry."

o-0-o

Casey had been taken away by Hun. Alex was left in the cage by her lonesome. She was wondering why she was left there by herself. Hun did say she was going to be a prize too, right? So, why was she left behind? The questions couldn't only keep coming.

Alex sighed of boredom. What was there to do in a prison sell? Not much!

This would have been a great time for the turtles to show up and bust her out of there, but if they were there than they would have been preoccupied with saving Casey. Alex was the least of their worried, well, that was if they even knew she was there. Casey could be clueless and forgetful, but would be really forget about Alex in the basement? Yes, yes he would.

"Lex? Hey, Lex! Ya down 'ere?" she heard a familiar voice call out from the top of the stairs. Footsteps could be heard coming down. A short teenage by came into view. His short black hair was spiked as much as it could go while he wore a sleeveless vest showing his chest. His long black pants were far too baggy for Alex's preference.

"Erik?" Alex asked. "Is that you?"

He smiled showing his white teeth. "Ya got dat right," he said. "So, what'd ya do ta get locked up in 'ere?"

Erik was a good kid when he wanted to be. He was in the same school as Alex and even in a lot of the same classes. She tutored him in math the year before. He was a smart kid, just not when it came to math or proper grammar. And apparently not the right people to hang out with.

"I know Casey," she blurted out. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I's part o' da Dragons," he replied. "How ya doin'?" he asked casually.

"How do I look?" she retorted.

"Like crap," he replied with a grin.

"Thanks," she huffed. "So, what are you doing down here anyway? Are you here to take me to my doom or something? Because I know I'm in for some more pain."

"I's wouldn't say dat," he added.

Alex looked at him suspiciously for a moment. "What do you mean, 'I's wouldn't say dat?' What are you getting at?"

He brought his hand into a clear line of view of Alex's face. He was twirling a key chain with a bunch of key on it on his finger. "I's 'ere ta get ya out." He started to fumble with the keys. He was trying every one of the keys on the lock.

"Why? What's in it for you?" she asked cautiously.

"Nothin' really. I's just tanking ya for all da work ya did with me last year. I's know it wasn't easy gettin' me ta pass," he replied.

"You're not that bad," she lied. "You just needed another way to figure it out. So, do you have a plan on getting me out? Because I know Hun won't be happy if he finds me missing. You'd be dead if he found out it was you who let me out."

The door swung open and he rushed in with the keys in hand. The key to open the door was the key to open the hand cuffs too. "Dere's a door in dat hallway over dere," he replied as the metal hit the ground. "Behind da door is a stair case dat'll bring you to an alley. You can get out through dere."

She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and place her lips to his cheek. She pulled away to see him blushing with a sly grin on his face. "I owe you one, Erik. Even though you're just repaying me. This is big."

"I's know," he said cockily. "I'll take ya up on dat offa too."

Alex just shook her head and ran out of the cage. The hallway was long, but like Erik had said the door was there. She stopped and placed her ear to the door to make sure it wasn't a trap. She didn't want to open it to find some sort of man eating animal or a group of guys with weapons. No, she had enough of that.

There was no noise coming from the other side at all so Alex opened the door and ran up the stairs as fast as she could without falling. The alley was dark and she wasn't sure of which way to go. Either way had to be better than staying there, right? That was what she was hoping was the case.

Without another thought about the building behind her she ran all the way home. April bombarded her with questions. Finally she let her go to bed. Thank goodness it was the weekend…


	8. Garbageman Part 1

**Okay, so this chapter is more about Alex's friends at school. Erik from the last chapter is included. Please message me and tell me what you think of her friends. Also include who you want to appear in future chapters. You may even include some new people that may become her friend. I would love it if you did that. Thanks everyone! ~ Northie**

Chapter 8  
>"Garbageman"<br>Part 1

Monday was a dreadful day for Alex. Not only did it mean the weekend was over, it mean she had to go to school and be bombarded with question on how she got all of her visible cuts and bruises. That wasn't going to be much fun. No, especially from her friends. They were already suspicious of something going on with their friend. This would just give them more reason to. They were nice people and all, but they didn't know when to quit.

"Lex," she heard her friend Amanda call out. "What the hell happened to you?"

Alex really did look like crap. She had a black eye, a gash on the top of her head, a bruised jaw and a bruised left cheek. That was only her face. She had strangle bruises on her neck and on her arms and legs were more bruises. On her back and stomach were more cuts from the knife the guy pulled on her.

"Get into a fight with some Purple Dragons," she said. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine to me," Arthur said. Arthur rapped his arm around Amanda's waste as they continued walking to their first period class, English. "If this is fine than I want to see how the other guys are."

Alex didn't tell them she never even touch the guys. She just let them think she did. She wasn't in a big mood for talking, although she knew they would drag her into a conversation anyways. _Oh well_, she though. _May as well socialize with people other than April or mutants._

They all walked into English class. There were five people in their little group in the back besides Alex. There was Amanda and Arthur. Emily and Kiley were twin sisters who finished each other sentences all the time and lastly was Fred.

"Geez Lex," Emily began. "What'd you do?"

"Get run over by a truck?" finished Kiley.

"Don't ask," she replied, taking her seat.

"All right," Fred muttered. "So, what's everyone doing tonight? That new Zombie movie just came out and I want to go. Who's in?"

"We're in," Arthur said after seeing his girlfriend nod her head.

"Definitely," the twins said at the same time.

"I can't," Alex said. She got funny looks from her friends. "What? I have plans already."

"Plans with whom?" Fred asked.

"Some friends of mine," she replied slightly defensively.

"Ya have friends?" joked Erik as he walked by to sharpen his pencil. "Who would a thought?"

"Ha ha, very funny loser," Amanda said.

Alex's friends weren't very fond of Erik. They knew he was part of the Purple Dragons and they hated that. A lot of people didn't like Erik. He really only stuck to the teenagers at their school who were Purple Dragons. Alex was the exception to that because she knew him. She didn't think he was that bad, just the things he did with the gang were.

"You know Casey for starters," Alex replied.

"Did ya 'ear 'e got away?" Erik said. "Dese big lizard tings got 'im away along wid Angel, a new recruit."

"That's nice to hear," Alex said. "Too bad Casey forgot I was there."

"Maybe 'e ain't really ya friend, den," Erik suggested. "Anyways," he said, changing the course of the topic. "I's catch ya 'round, Lex. Ya still owe me dat fava, 'member?"

She smiled and shook her head at him. Alex actually enjoyed talking to the mutants and Erik more than she did with the people she hung out with. The people she hung out with were more stubborn and stuck up, which wasn't Alex at all, except for the stubborn part. They all used to be the best of friends, but something changed them when they got to high school, or maybe it was something that changed Alex….

Before her "friends" could question her, the teacher walked in and began a long, boring lecture on the importance of proper grammar. Alex took her notes and ended up finished her homework in class during the lecture. She could see her friends talking behind her. Erik was fast asleep drooling on his note book. She almost busted out laughing them and there.

The morning classes seemed to fly by. Before Alex knew it, it was lunch time. She grabbed her stuff from her locker and headed to the lunch room to meet up with her friends at their usual table. They usually sat by the windows looking out to the streets. Alex usually looked out the windows instead of really interacting with her "friends."

Alex sat down at the table and took out the stuff in her bag. She had a sandwich and a bottle of water. A small bag of potatoes chips, a couple oreos and a small bag of carrots. She never ate everything she packed herself for lunch. People at her table usually took some of the stuff she had. She was used to it.

"So," Fred started. "Lex, who are these friends of yours?"

Alex looked up from her sandwich. She finished chewing and swallowed what she had before speaking. It would be rude and gross if she didn't. "Just some guys that April and I know. Why do you ask?"

"I was just making sure it wasn't that Erik guy," Fred said. "Why do you even talk to him? He's a total freak."

Alex didn't like what she was hearing. "He's not a freak," she protested. "Why do you care? It doesn't affect you in any way."

Now Fred didn't like what he was hearing. "I just don't like you hanging out with that guy. It's not that I don't trust you, it's him I don't trust. Plus, you're my friend. I watch out for my friends."

There was just something about how he said that that made Alex uneasy. She didn't know why, but it did. "All right," she said hesitantly. "But lay off the jokes, all right? He's not as bad of a guy as you guys think. He just has a harder life."

"Whatever you say," Fred muttered. "So, who are these guys? Do we know them?"

"No," she said. "I guess you could say their home schooled. They're quadruplets. Leo, Mikey, Don and Raph. They're great guys. I don't think you guys would like them though."

"Why's that?" Amanda asked.

"They don't go out much and they don't have a lot of friends. April, Casey, Angel and I are really the only people they know around here. Plus, they are a little different in appearances," she added under her breathe.

"What was that?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing," she muttered with a laugh.

"So, what are you," Kiley started. "Doing with them tonight?" finished Emily.

"We're bringing clothes and food to homeless people," she said. Of course that wasn't the whole truth. Donny also wanted to look for some things in the junk yard to see if he could find parts for thing whatever it was he was working on now and to improve the lair.

"No really," Amanda said. "What are you doing?"

"That's really what I'm doing. I'm the one making the food to bring," she stated. _Why is that so hard to believe?_ "Just because you wouldn't do it doesn't mean I wouldn't."

"What's that suppose to mean?" She asked defensively. "I was just thinking that you would rather spend your time with your friends that smell homeless people."

"I just thought I'd do some good for some people, is all. Is that so wrong?" she asked rhetorically.

"We're doing good too, you know. We're helping the economy," she defended.

"Can you two just drop it?" Fred asked. "Let's just move on."

"Fine," Alex huffed.

"Fine," Amanda growled.

It was silent between everyone at the table for a little while after that. Alex was surprised they hadn't started fighting sooner. Things between them had started to change. Alex had started to make her opinion more known and I seemed that her "friends" didn't like that. She was debating whether or not to leave. She could go to the library to get her history essay that was due the following week done.

"So is that what you've been doing that past couple of months? Emily asked.

"Yeah," Kiley said. "You haven't had a lot of time to hang out with us. First it was your job, then it was something else. What is it now?"

"I've been busy working with April at the _2nd Time Around._ I've been working," she replied.

"Yeah right," Arthur muttered. "Then why do you keep coming to school tired and beaten?"

"Oh my God," Amanda said. "Is April beating you?"

"No!" she nearly shouted. How could anyone think that April would beat her? "How could you think of something like that? April's been nothing but perfect! How could you say that?"

Alex was getting angrier and angrier. Sure, she hadn't given them any answers to why she was coming to school exhausted and beaten, but that didn't give them the right to accuse April of being abusive! That just got under Alex's skin. It was the last straw. She picked up her lunch and walked out of the lunch room and outside into the court yard. The school had some tables for kids to sit outside, but a lot of people just sat inside. It was starting to get colder out.

She emptied her bag again and ate the rest of her sandwich angrily. She continued to glare at the table as she saw someone sit across from her. She looked up for a brief moment to see it was Erik and look back down.

"What do you want, Erik? I'm not in the mood," she huffed.

For some reason that made him chuckle. Alex looked up at him confused. "I's can see dat." He looked down at her food. "Can I's 'ave one?" he asked about her oreos.

"Take them," she replied, giving him the whole bag. She had lost her apatite. "Take anything if you want." She took a sip of her water. "I'm not hungry."

"You'se a life saver," he muttered as he started to dig into everything he could. It looked like he hadn't eaten in a couple days. She knew his family had money problems, but not that bad. The poor kid wasn't getting any food at home.

"When was the last time you ate?" she asked sadly.

He thought about that for a couple minutes as he continued to eat. That meant it was too long ago. "A couple days at least," he muttered through a full mouth. "It's no biggie. I's fine."

"Yes, it is a big problem. You're starving," she said. "I'll bring you in something tomorrow."

"Really?" he asked shocked. "Why?"

"Because I'm not letting you starve," she replied. "Plus, it looks like I don't have anybody to sit with anymore. You're going to have to sit with me if you want the food," she said playfully.

He smirked at her. "Deal, but this doesn't count as my payback. You offered to do this," he said.

"Of course," she laughed.

They sat their talking for a little while longer until they had to both leave for math class. It looked to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. A better one that she had with the five others at the moment. She had to cool off before going back to talking to them. She didn't know how long that would take. In the mean time, she had Erik, April, Casey and the turtles for comfort. She was happy for the first time in a really long time.


	9. Garbageman Part 2

**I would like to say again that I wish you would message me and tell me who of her friends you wish to see in future chapters because if you don't than you may see people you don't like. I'd like to give a special thanks to kaaayyytteee and yesiamweird for sending me messages on what you thought of her friends! ~ Northie **

Chapter 9  
>"Garbageman"<br>Part 2

"Sorry I'm late," Alex said to the Professor. The Professor was a homeless man who seemed very smart. He had many theories on many things. Some of them were far out there, but others actually made sense. Although, those didn't come often. Alex looked around for the guys. "Did I miss the guys?"

"I am afraid so," Professor said. "Is that for us?"

"Of course," Alex smiled. "There should be plenty for everyone to have seconds if they want." She handed over the tray of spaghetti to the Professor.

"Thank you very much, Alex. This is much appreciated," he smiled back at her. "Would you like to dine with us?"

"I can't," she replied sadly. "I have school in the morning and it's already late as is."

"That is too bad," he said sadly. "Would you help us pass out the food?" he asked.

She smiled again at him. She really didn't have time to, but for some reason she couldn't say no. The Professor was just too sweet. Everyone else was much kinder than she thought they were. They were humble people.

After helping pass everything out Alex was about to leave, but the Professor started to talk about one of his "theories" again. She got caught up in listening to it. It was entertaining listening to them all talk about what the Professor thought. You couldn't help but get pulled in.

"And so we see in conclusion that the space time continuum is," the Professor said. He heard a noise from behind that cut him off. "My word," he muttered in disbelief.

Everyone looked behind him to see a very large dump truck. The red headlights made it seem like it was looking for its next victims. Which, it was. The truck rammed the fence going straight threw it. The people screamed and scattered trying to not get run down or picked up by its mechanical arms.

Alex and the Professor watched in disbelief. One of the theories he had mention not too long before had been the theory of the Garbageman. He or it, whatever it was had been was taking homeless people for who knows what.

The truck turned and faced Alex and the Professor. Alex was the first to snap back to reality. "Come on, Professor! We have to go!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the truck running.

They ended up running to a fence. Alex urged the Professor to go up first, but there was no time. The truck was parked right behind them. Alex was almost temped to jump up and leave the Professor behind, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She wasn't that kind of person. She couldn't leave anybody behind.

"You shall not have me!" the Professor yelled. "You behemoth! Lethiathan! Monstrosity!" He shook his fist at it.

The arms reached down and pulled the fencing material off the fence and around the two beings. It picked them up and dropped the off in the back of the truck with the others. Before they landed inside though, Alex could see about seven people in there. Not everyone had been captured. Some people had fortunately gotten away. Too bad Alex hadn't.

Unfortunately, Alex fell on her head, knocking her out. It didn't help that the Professor landed on top of her. That wouldn't help with her pain.

o-0-o

"Ms. O'Neil, Ms. O'Neil," she heard someone say. Alex opened her eyes to see the Professor standing above her. "Thank goodness you are all right. How do you feel?"

"Like garbage," she punned. She started to look around where they were. "Where are we, Professor? This isn't where we were before, is it?"

"No," he replied. "They have taken us to the dumb." He sounded like it was the end of the world, but in this instance it was necessary. "They are making us work here. He wants us to help build his fortune. He says that garbage is power. If that is so, he is the bill gates of the garbage world."

"I can see that," she muttered.

"Come," he helped her up off the filthy ground. "We must work."

"No," she stated. "I am not working for him. I have a life back home. Do what you want Professor, but I am _not_ throwing my life in the garbage. No pun intended."

The Professor chuckled. "You are a very spirited girl, Alex O'Neil. I wish you luck."

"Thank you," she said.

Because Alex had been unconscious upon arrival she had not been chained at the leg with the others. They saw no threat about a girl that was unconscious. No, but what they hadn't thought of when she woke up. Alex could be a great threat. She just didn't look it.

Alex managed to slip away from the group and the guards with tazar sticks. They were long poles that they could shock any "misbehaving workers." She didn't want to get anywhere near those. She didn't want to ever get shocked by something like that. No, she'd been enough pain lately.

Alex climbed up the large mound of garbage to a flat slip of land where she could see everything in the landfill. What shocked her more wasn't what was in the landfill; however, it was that the guys were not seventeen feet from her. It seemed as if both sides noticed the others at the same time.

"Alex?" Leo asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I get kidnapped with the others. I guess that's what I get for being late," she muttered. "So, you guys here to save them?"

"Yeah," Raph whispered back. "You want in?"

"Of course," she confirmed.

"This is making me sick," muttered Raph. He started to get up to start the attack, but was pulled back down by Leo grabbing his arm. He reluctantly got back down with the others.

It seemed as if all the guards were gathering all the workers to one area. They were patiently and confusedly waiting for whatever the guards had planned. It wasn't like they could really say anything about it. The guards had weapons. They were defenseless and weak. In the orange goopy slime pond arose the dump truck. That was what they had been waiting for, it seemed.

"Ew," Mikey said. "Gross."

The truck drove up onto a ramp and dropped three more men off down a shoot. There were a could "workers" down there to help the up. It was like it was a fast way of throwing people out. It mad Alex sick to her stomach.

"That's it," Raph muttered impatiently.

"Hold on, Raph. Look," Leo said, stopping him once more.

The dump truck drove back down the ramp and over to a couple guards. The front of the truck opened up and our drove a very, very over weight man, with tube attached from his skin to his really weird home make….Wheel chair? Car? Bulldozer? Alex didn't know how to explain it. It was too bazaar for her mind. Two arms were attached to it and when he moved his real arms, they moved the same way.

"That is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen," Mikey said.

"Just this once," Raph began. "I totally agree with you."

"That's repulsive," muttered Alex. "I think I'm going to be sick." She held her dinner down, however. It seemed like it really wanted to come back up on her.

"Greetings filth," It said. "Garbage is power!"

"If that's true," Mikey said. "Than this guy's superman."

"Before I brought you to this island you were nothing but human garbage," It said. "No home. No purpose. No value. But now I have recycled you. Given you work sifting through refuse that this city stupidly squanders to build my fortune. Behold the birth of my empire! Invisible to the outside world until it is too late."

"I'd rather be a free man living on the streets than a slave in your stinking empire," the Professor announced.

"Finally he speaks up," Alex said. "Of course only after I tell him _I_ wasn't going to work as a slave."

"Guards! Silence him!" Garbageman yelled. "Get these ungrateful beasts back to work now!"

"That's it," Raph yelled. "It's time to take out the trash!"

Leo, Donny and Raph jumped down first. Mikey got an idea to use an old piece of metal as a snow board. He road down the mound of garbage as Alex stood at the top of the hill watching them go. She groaned before jumping down shortly behind them.

_I really need to invest in a weapon_, she thought. _Maybe I'll go tomorrow or sometime this week. I'm going to have to if I keep getting into situations like this with the guys. It feels so unrealistic, like a cartoon or a movie. _

Alex landed at the bottom of the hill and before she really had time to react, three guards came running at her with their tazar sticks. One of the guys lunged the tazar at her. She managed to elude the electric current by quickly moving to the right and redirecting the pole to the side. The man lost his balance and his grip on the pole listened. Alex noticed that and grabbed the pole out of his hands before he had a chance to get his balance back.

That shocked all three guards.

Alex smirked at the guys. This was more fun than she had thought. She was doing better than she thought she would. She was rusty, but this was cake. The guards weren't as tough as she had thought they were. They were just a couple of big bullies with tazars. She got more confidence at that moment.

The two other guards dropped their weapons and ran. _Well, _thought Alex. _That was unexpected. That's slightly disappointing. I was just getting warmed up. _

Alex turned around to notice the guys running up the ramp to the Garbageman. She caught up and was right behind them. This was going to be fun. Especially with the guys there. It seemed like they made her life a whole lot more eventful.

"It's garbage day, fat man. Time to take your can out to the curb," Mikey said.

"What?" Garbageman said in anger.

"Ah, how about time to dump you in the dumpster, smelly boy!" Mikey yelled.

"Mikey," Alex warned. "Stop with the lame catch phrases."

"You!" he scolded. "Shut up!" One of the arms slammed down the on platform, but Mikey jumped away in time to safety.

Leo was the first of the opposite team to attack. He lunged forward and had a sword battle with the arms of the Garbageman's machine. He eventually got up onto the front of the thing and was about to attack when he put the thing in reverse and backed up fast up another incline. He shot missiles at the five beings chasing after him.

Everyone made it safely up the ramp without getting hit by the missiles. Another devise come out of the machine and squirted out what looked to be slime or sludge. Either way, it was gross and smelt bad.

Four of the five beings were able to jump out of the way. Raph hadn't jumped out of the way and was getting slammed by the slime. Donny shot his bow staff and hit the target perfectly. He had jammed it into the hole that the sludge was being poured out of. The tube kept expanding because the substance was unable to get out. It eventually exploded and covered the Garbageman.

"You freaks!" he called them.

"Hey, I'm human!" Alex called out jokingly.

"That doesn't mean you're not a freak," Raph said. "Personally, I think you're more of a freak than we are."

"Ouch," she pretended to be hurt. "That hurt, Raph. Harsh."

The Garbage man pressed another bottom on his machine and out popped a flamethrower. Mikey jumped out of the way so he wouldn't become a turtle kabob. Unfortunately, he landed on the slime and slid partially down the ramp to the others. He had been the closest one to attack.

"Can we finish this?" Raph asked, annoyed.

"Hey dude," Mikey stared. "You've gotta hit the showers."

"What did I tell you Mikey?" Alex said. "They aren't helping the situation."

"I will recycle ever one of you all," he yelled. "Into the ground!"

Mikey was the first to start running. The Garbageman continued to back up as they ran towards him. "Hey Garbagebrain, if you fight as bad as you smell we are in trouble."

"That one was actually okay," she muttered slightly impressed.

"I told you to shut up!" he lunged the arms at Mikey who was right in front of him. Mikey leaped up, dodging the attack and landing behind Garbageman. "Come back here!" That got the garbage man to turn around and chase after Mikey. Leo and Raph were right there with Mikey.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Don?" Alex asked him.

"I can concur," Donny yelled back, smiling at Alex.

"You have no place to run!"

Donny and Alex ran up as silently as they could behind Garbage man and opened the circuit panel in the back.

"Now I've got you!"

Leo and Raph jumped to attack, but were hit by the arms of the machine. Donny back up a couple steps to see what was going on, but was hit by a flying Leo. Raph landed on the ground a couple feet away to the left on top of Alex. Both let out a grown of pain.

Garbageman picked up Mikey but his arms and started to roll to the ledge of the cliff. He held his there for a moment to savor the moment. "Prepare to be recycled."

As everyone got up Donny and Alex picked up their weapons, Donny with his bow staff and Alex with the commandeered tazar rod. Both threw than at the same time for the circuit board that they had left open. Each had hit it spot on. Donny's weapon richashae back while Alex's stuck and started to fry the wiring, making everything go haywire.

He let go of Mikey, who as he started to fall, grabbed onto the ledge of the cliff and held on for dear life. After a moment of hanging there he jumped back up and over to the group to safety. The Garbageman wasn't so lucky. The machine started to go haywire and drive in random directions. He ended up driving himself off the cliff.

"For sure he can't swim," Donny said. Everyone was standing at the edge of the cliff looking over the edge where the man had fallen.

"We've gotta do something," Leo said.

"I knew you were gonna say that," Raph replied.

All four of the turtles jumped off the cliff to save the evil man. Alex just stayed where she was. IT was a high dive and she was bound to be in pain when she made contact with the water. Then there was the fact that she couldn't swim. She had almost drown when she was younger and never learned how to swim. She'd rather not have to either.

Alex sighed and turned away down to the shore. That was where all the homeless people were located. She may as well wait there with them rather than stand on a cliff looking at the water alone. No, she wasn't that much of a loner.

After a while the guys came back up to the surface and told everyone that he was gone. They couldn't find the guy anywhere down there. Maybe he did know how to swim after all… Nah. He was too big. He wouldn't have been able to even move his legs.

"What's up, Professor?" Donny asked.

"We voted to stay here," he replied. "There's food and shelter. The Garbageman was right about one thing. People do throw away a lot of valuable items."

"Watch out for him," Raph warned. Something that evil always comes back."

Mikey kicked the dirt under his foot. "Now see," he complained. "That worked. How do you come up with those?"

"Quit recycling the old ones, Mikey. Keep looking for something new," Raph told him.

"Come on," Leo said. "Let's go home."

"What about me?" she asked. "I can't swim that far." Of course, that was a lie. She couldn't swim at all, but she was embarrass. She didn't want to tell them and have them laugh in her face. "Plus, I'm pooped. How am I suppose to get home?"

In the end, Alex had to climb on Mikey's back as they swam across. Mikey had to go up to the surface every once in a while so that Alex could get air. She couldn't hold her breath like the turtles could. She wasn't amphibious. They dropped her off in the beaten, almost falling apart battle shell.

She walked through the door to see April eating her breakfast. "What the heck happened to you? You smell horrible. What have you been doing, dumpster diving?"

"Don't even ask," she said as she went to go take a long shower. She was planning on burning her clothes afterwards. There was no way she was ever going to get that smell out of it. She was surprised it came out of her hair.

She got everything ready for a long, tiresome day at school. She didn't forget to make Erik his lunch.

**P.S. I'm sorry if this one is short or not very good. I wasn't** **feeling it in thing episode, but I wanted to get this one out. Again, sorry!**


	10. The Shredder Strikes!

**So, here is the next chapter. I'm sorry it took so long and that it's not great, but I'll try and make the next one better. I'd like the thank kaaayyytteee for messaging me. It is always appreciated! Please message me and tell me what you think about this and maybe what you may want to see happen sometime in the story. Thanks guys!**  
><strong>~ Northie<strong>

Chapter 10  
>"The Shredder Strikes"<p>

"Hey Alex? Could you run to the store for me? I need some milk to finish the macaroni and cheese!" April called from the kitchen. She had been making extra food to bring to the turtles. They loved April's homemade food. They didn't get a lot of good home cooking so she enjoyed making things for them.

Alex had been sitting in the living room looking through a magazine to try and find a weapon she wanted to order. She was getting sick and tired of going into battle with the guys and not having anything to use to her advantage. She missed her old weapons, but she was in the mood to learn something new too. She couldn't decide.

She used to always use a black steel fighting fan along with a black manriki chain, her black steel tanto and her favorite sword, her black katon katana. That was what she missed most. She loved her sword. It was a part of her. Her father gave it to her personally. It was missing, though. She had no idea where it was. Maybe somebody from the attack took it from their place? Maybe her brothers had it? Who knew…?

"Sure," Alex called out. She got up from her spot and slid her flip flops on after tossing the magazine in her room. She was too lazy to put her sneakers on. Plus, she hated having to wear shoes. She liked to walk around with no shoes on, but when she had to, she'd put slip flops on.

"You might want to take an umbrella with you. I think it's going to rain," April called out one last time.

So, Alex picked up an umbrella on the way out of the house. It was getting very dark outside and it wasn't even that late. Alex smiled. She loved the rain. She loved to walking in it, run in it, watch it and stand in it. Her brothers used to tease her and say she was the queen of gloom and doom. They had their reasons. She like bad weather, not hot and sunny weather. She like the cold and the dark. That was the gloom part. The doom part was for how she fought. She was great and never really lost. She'd bring you doom.

After grabbing some milk from the store and headed back out. The streets were empty because of the weather forecast. Nobody "normal" wanted to be caught in it. Alex was hoping to get stuck in it. It relaxed her.

Footsteps could be heard close by. Alex knew somebody was following her, she could feel it. Nobody was behind her; she could see that as she turned the corn down a street going away from her home. It had to be somebody on top of the building. She subtly looked up to see ten foot ninja watching her intently.

_Great,_ thought Alex. _Just what I need to start my weekend. Why can't you people leave me alone for one stinking weekend? I mean, is that so much to ask?_

Instead of avoiding the attack like she usually would, the annoyed teenage Kunoichi jumped up to the top of the building with her folded up umbrella in one and the bag with the milk in the other. It must have been sort of an odd sight. A girl about to get ready to fight ten ninjas with a jug of milk and an umbrella. This was going to be _fun_.

"What do you want?" she asked annoyed. "I have places to be, people to see. I don't have time to deal with you. Isn't it enough I kicked your butts before?"

"Are you the sister of Marcus, Nathan and Zack O'Neil?" one ninja asked.

"That depends who's asking," Alex replied.

"Are you not Alex O'Neil?"

"Does it really matter if I answer that? You already know the answer. You wouldn't be following me if you didn't," Alex said. "So, what is it that you want?"

"You're brothers ordered us to bring you to them," he replied.

_No_, Alex thought. _They wanted me to stay out of this. They wouldn't request for me to go with them. But what if something is wrong? What if they're hurt? I couldn't just stand back and go home, right? _

"Fine," she replied against her better judgment. "Bring me to them."

After walking, or rather jumping from roof time to roof top they arrived at a small abandoned apartment building. They guided her into a room with a guy with long black hair that was partially pulled back. He was wearing a white, black and gray kimono. He was obviously very well built and the person in charge. He must have been the one to have kidnapped and force her brothers into doing things they were against.

"Hello Miss O'Neil," he greeted with a smile at was warm, but obviously fake. Alex didn't trust him. She had to keep on her guard. "Thank you for coming."

"Where are my brothers?" she said, getting straight to the point. "What do you want?"

He just continued to smile at her. "You are a very direct girl. I like that." He stood up from his place on his mat and walked up closer to Alex. She took a step back. That got him to stop walking forward and frown. "I asked you here today to give you a proposition."

Alex was confused. "What kind of proposition?"

"If you give the information I want I will let you leave unharmed and leave you be from now on," he started.

"And if I don't?" Alex asked cautiously.

"Let us hope we don't have to go that far, shall we?" he said.

"What is it you want to know?" Alex was uncomfortable with everything going on. This was Oroku Saki. He killed Master Splinter's master and he kidnapped her brothers. She wanted to be nowhere near him.

"Where is it that your friends reside? The ones are training in the art of ninjutsu? I would like to contact them," he said. There was a glint in his eyes that Alex didn't like. It meant he was lying. She didn't like liars.

"You're lying," she stated bluntly. "You want them gone. Just like you wanted my parents gone, Oroku Saki."

"So you know who I am," he said. "I'm impressed. But I am not happy with your response. Do you want me to go to the alternative?"

"If I have to endure something to save my friends then that is how it shall be. I have to say, Oroku, you are insane and a sick." Alex was not impressed by this man. She wanted out of there. She _had_ to get out of there.

"I see I am left with no choice," he said.

"You won't kill me," Alex said. "I know that much. If you did, your three best fighters would have no reason to stay."

"You are quite right," he said. "But that doesn't mean I can't torture what I want out of you." He smiled evilly and turned to his henchmen. "Take her to the chamber."

Alex was attacked by all ten ninjas at once. She never even had time to let go of the bag with the milk in it. They just cut it with one of the swords. At least she wasn't crying over spilt milk.

That was when they knocked her out.

o-0-o

It had been two days since Alex had gotten taken to the chamber. She had been in the dark room in pain the whole time with no food or water. She was tired, she was in pain, and she wanted water and tacos. Why tacos? She was just craving tacos. That and she wanted to get the shell out of there.

They had torched Alex all the rest of that first day she was there. She had been stabbed in so many places she lost count. She was slightly impressed in a sick way. To know the exact places to stab somebody so they wouldn't bleed to death was big. And sick. And painful!

She had given up all hope of getting out of there. If the guys hadn't come for her already than they weren't coming. They probably didn't even know she was missing. April would obviously know. All she had done was gone out to get milk. If she hadn't been back in days than something was wrong. If she didn't notice than there was something very wrong.

"Alex?" she heard a voice call out. She painfully turned her head to the side to see who was calling her. In the doorway was Zack. His light strawberry blonde hair hung slightly in his eyes. "What are you doing here? What happened?"

"The Shredder happened," Alex managed to say. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working or something?"

"Yes I should," he laughed. "But when did I ever do work?"

That got Alex to smile weakly. "Good point. So, what are you doing here?"

"Well," he started. "I was here to avoid work, but now I'm gonna get you out of here." Zack undid her shackles and gently picked her up in his arms. "How'd you get yourself into this?"

"I was _summoned_," Alex muttered. "He wanted to know where the turtles live, but I wouldn't tell him. So, he thought it he tortured me than maybe I'd tell."

"Why didn't you just tell? I mean, if I hadn't come along you might have died. Why not save yourself?" Zack asked confused as he walked around as quickly as he could to get out unnoticed. He jumped up to a window and into the rainy night.

The rain stung her stab wounds. At that moment, she was silent as she suffered in the rain. It was numbing. She was thankful for that. It was better than being in pain. "You should know me better than that, Zack. They've become my family. Not that you guys and April aren't, but the things we've been through and what they've helped me through a lot. I couldn't just sentence them to death. That's like killing them myself. Or killing you guys."

He was silent for the longest time. When they eventually got to April's apartment he climbed in through her window and placed her in her bed.

"Should I go get April or call an ambulance or something?" Zack asked a little franticly. "I can tell they aren't deep enough to need stitches, but-"

"Zack," Alex stopped him. She sat up with great difficulty. "I'll be fine. Just don't get in trouble for this."

"Don't worry," he laughed as he walked up to Alex. "You were the only one to ever catch me doing anything. I'll be fine." He looked down at the magazine she had been looking at earlier on the floor. He picked it up and started to look at the circled items. "So, you looking to get in more trouble.  
>"You know it," she chuckled. Chuckling hurt. In the end she ended up whimpering. "I just want my dang sword back!"<p>

"Hmm," he hummed. "I still favor shoge hooks with a thirteen inch chain myself, but who am to judge. You've beaten me on more than one occasion."

"Now go," Alex said. "Say hello to the others for me."

"Gotcha," he said. He kissed her forehead and walked to the window. "See ya later, sis. Get well." With that he was gone.

Alex laid there for a while just trying to relax. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep. Not with all the pain from all the injuries and the hunger pains in her stomach. Before she could go make herself some tacos she had to go clean and wrap her injuries to make sure they wouldn't get infected.

So, after taking a shower, cleaning her wounds (feeling very much like Donny in a doctorly way) she walked into the kitchen and stated to make herself tacos. She wasn't in any condition to make tacos, but she as a very motivated girl. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't going to sit down until she had it.

The tacos didn't take too long to make. She sat on the couch with her legs crossed as she ate as many tacos as she could. They tasted even better than they imagined they would. She had eaten about, five tacos when she heard the door downstairs open and commotion going on. She could tell there were a lot of people coming up the stairs. She figured it was April and the guys. Who else would it have been?  
>"I have no idea where she could have gone," April stated in a very weak voice.<p>

"Don't worry, April. We'll look again tomorrow," Donny said.

"Yeah," Raph said. "She can't be too far. We know she can fight. She can take care of herself until we find her."

_Yeah,_ Alex though. _Take care of myself._ Being captured and tortured for the past couple of days hadn't been the best for her self confidence. She used to think she could fight her way out of anything the Foot gave her, but she wasn't so sure anymore. She knew she was still a good fighter, but without her parents training she was getting nowhere. Her skills were slowly decreasing and she didn't like that. She wished to get her bothers out of there, but how could she do that if she wasn't getting better. _I can't fight the Foot. I can't even fight off a group of Purple Dragons. What is wrong with me?_

"What if she went looking for her brothers? I know she wants too, but won't. What if she got hurt can't fight? What if they kidnapped her? What if she ran away with them and won't come back?" April was frantic.

"April, we took care of the Shredder. If she is out there with them, she's in no danger of him. If we find her brothers than we find her," Mikey said. _Mikey said something remotely smart_, Alex thought, shocked. _Wow, I thought I'd never see the day!_

They all walked into the living room and stopped dead in their tracks when they say Alex sitting on the couch. From the looks of it from they were standing, she looked perfectly normal. They couldn't see the front of her where all the injuries were. She was just wearing the gauze around her chest, stomach and part of her shoulders. She was also wearing pajama pants. She wanted to be as comfortable as she could.

"Hey guys," she muttered with her mouth full.

April was the first to recover from the shock. "Where the heck have you been? Do you have any idea how worried I've been? Where is the milk?"

The five people stayed where they were. Alex had finished her tacos and wanted nothing more than to go to bed after putting the plate in the kitchen. She didn't want to deal with the guys or April. She wasn't in the mood, nor was she in the condition to really do much of anything. She was barely able to make herself some tacos.

Alex sighed as she stood up from the couch with great difficulty. She picked up her plate and turned around. She tried not to make it look like it was horrible, but it was very hard. She was in a lot more pain than she was showing, which she was actually showing a little. She needed to lie down. She needed to get her work form her school to catch up on. She had only missed one day, but she figured she wouldn't be able to go in the next day either. She wouldn't be able to walk to her classes.

"I'm going to bed," she muttered. She slowly passed the staring group as she went into the kitchen and into her room. She'd deal with them later.

When she sat down on her bed, she hadn't noticed what had been placed there ever so carefully. She had sat on a metal sword. It wasn't just any metal sword though. It was hers. The some she had been missing so much. It was the one her father had given to her. She had also sat on a small note. She picked it up and read,

_I still prefer my shoge hook and chain, but I though you might like this back. Take care of it. You don't know how much effort I had to put in to get that back for you. Take care of yourself.  
><em>_Love Zack_

Alex placed the sword on her desk while she smiled happily. In all of that, at least she got her sword back.


	11. Notes from Underground Part 1

**I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I hope you like it and it's nive and long too. I'd like to thank kaaayyytteee, gradejuice101 for review on the last chapter. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks always!  
>~Northie<strong>

Chapter 11  
>"Notes from Underground"<p>

Part One

Telling the turtles and April about what happened to Alex hadn't gone as well as she had planned it would. She had recovered rather quickly and she was no longer in any pain. She had missed the first three days of school that week, but felt well enough to go in for Thursday and Friday. She made sure to not do anything that would stress her out or reopen her wounds. She had also finished all the work she had missed when she was out resting, along with what they had given her when she was there to attend.

Friday night, Alex had made a nice dinner for the turtles and April so she could tell them while they ate together as a nice, happy family. She ended up burning the meatballs in the pot she was making them in, meaning she had to throw the whole things away because they all tasted burnt after that. Then, there was a whole in the pot she was cooking the pasta in, so as the water boiled and she placed the pasta in, the water slowly poured out on top of the stove. As the water did that, the pasta burnt to the bottom of the pot, meaning she had to throw that out as well. The bread she was going to make garlic bread from had gotten all moldy and green, so that was out of the question. It seemed like nothing was going right for her.

She decided to just order Chinese food with some of the money she had earned from working at Stocktronics. They paid a lot and she had saved every penny of it. She had enough for any emergency she needed it for, like the dinner incidents. And her newly ordered weapons that were coming in the following week.

After dishing out all the food onto plate for everyone, they all came home and sat down in the living room. It seemed like the guys had finished all their food before Alex could even dish herself a plate. After giving the guys a second helping, she was about to give herself some, but there wasn't any more. The guys had eaten it all. She just sighed and made herself ramen. She made sure there wasn't a hole in the pot first. She really didn't want anything else to go wrong. She wouldn't have been able to take anything else.

The guys started to goof around after eating, even before Alex could sit down and eat one noodle. They ended up breaking three plates. Alex had to clean them up because didn't want any of them to stress. Her stress levels were already off the charts.

After cleaning up the mess of the plates and the cartons of empty Chinese food, she sat down to eat her own dinner. It had gotten disgustingly cold, so she went to heat it back up in the microwave. She placed it in for a couple minutes to just get it at least a little warm. She went back into the living room while she waited, just so she didn't have to watch water boil. It seemed as if the guys had turned on the television to watch a movie.

She went back into the kitchen to get her food out of the microwave, but when she did so, the bowl was hotter than she expected and burnt her hand. She dropped the glass bowl and watched it shatter on the floor. The noodles had soaked up all the broth anyways; she didn't like it when that happened. So, she cleaned that up and decided to not eat anything.

The living room was surprisingly quiet for having all four turtles in it. It turned out that they had all fallen asleep watching the movie. April had already left to go to bed. Alex went to one of the hall closets and gave each turtle a blanket to cover up with, that way they wouldn't be cold or anything.

Nothing had gone as she had planned. Nothing ever seemed too really.

o-0-o

The week after that went by as a blur. Monday had a test every other class period. Tuesday was filled with projects that included three grades for three different classes. Wednesday was filled with a lot of homework. Thursday was filled with studying in almost every class and Friday was spent taking more tests. At least tests in every class meant no homework for the weekend.

"Lex!" yelled a voice to Alex as she started walking down a street to April's apartment. She turned around to see it was Fred. "Hey, Lex. How have you been? You were out sick at the beginning of the week."

Alex was shocked Fred was actually talking to her. After what happened at lunch the day she got up and left, he hadn't spoken to her. He wouldn't sit with her and barely even looked at her. She felt oddly saddened by that. Even though she had a great time talking to Erik, she did have to admit she missed Fred. She missed the twins and Arthur. Amanda and Alex still weren't on very good terms.

"I'm well, thank you for asking. How have you been?" she asked with a smile on her face. "How's everyone?"

"Great, we're all fine. We miss you though," he stated looking a little sad. "We want you to come back. I want you to come back. It's not the same without you, you know? It's like the missing puzzle piece."

"Amanda really wants me to come back," she asked, making it known she didn't believe that was true. Amanda and Alex never really were the best of friends, but the other was friends with everyone else at her table so, they dealt with one another. Every once in a while they would have a moment, but that was very rare. "Come on, Fred. I'm not dumb."

"Okay, maybe she is still a little pissed at you, but come on! We want you back!" Fred pressed. "To make it up to you, why don't you come to the movies with us this weekend? We're going to see that zombie movie again and I know you haven't seen it."

"Well," she started. She had been planning on going to see if she could start her training with Master Splinter that weekend. But maybe _one_ more week couldn't hurt? Plus, her weapons weren't coming in till Saturday night. Training wouldn't be the same without them. "Okay, I can't wait."

Fred seemed to perk up a lot. "Really? Great! Uh, meet us at our usual theatre at 6:30. I'll pay for everything so don't even bring money. This is my treat," he offered.

"Okay," Alex said. "I've got it."

Fred wrapped his arms around Alex and hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, slightly shocked by the sudden show of affection. It wasn't often Fred hugged people. He wasn't a very emotional person. Maybe with all his girlfriends, but not always with his friends.

His hug was nice, but it was a little awkward. His arms weren't holding her tight enough, like he wasn't sure he should have been doing it. It was warm, but not like the hugs he had given her whenever there had been occasion where he actually would hug her. It wasn't as warm and comforting as it used to be. It almost seemed like he was holding back or hiding something.

"I'll see you this weekend," he said as he pulled away. He turned and walked the opposite way Alex was going. His brother had a car and usually got a ride from him.

Alex shook her head, still slightly in a daze. She didn't believe this. Maybe she could have a regular weekend to herself. She could hang out with her friends and do whatever she wanted. It was shocking. She _never_ had time for what she wanted. Not with what was going on with her brothers, April's shop and everything that happens whenever you're around the turtles.

Once again she turned around and started to walk to April's apartment. She couldn't wait to tell April what had happened. April could tell Alex missed her friends. She would be so happy that they were going to be hanging out with each other again.

"So," another voice said behind Alex. "The movies. Sounds fun."

Alex jumped. "Geez," she said as she placed a hand over her heart. "I swear you are as quiet as a ninja, Erik. Next time, a little more warning."

Erik just chuckled. "I's plannin' on seein' dat movie too, but den I'se heard it was borin' people to sleep." He smirked at Alex. "I's tinkin' on goin' ta see dat new ghost movie this weekend. Ya wanna go Sunday?"

The new ghost movie he was talking about did sound a whole lot better than the zombie movie. Alex liked ghost stuff better than zombies. Why be a rotting, creepy dead body walking around when you could be a creepy dead person who could walk through walls, make things levitate, including yourself and scare people. Being a ghost sounded better than rotting flesh. It sounded like it was less painful too. Who wanted rotting flesh? Not Alex…

"That sounds perfect," she replied smiling. "You know that old firehouse on," she was cut off before she could finish.

"Yeah," he replied. "The theatre over dere righ'? The movie starts at 4:55, so we'se can grab sometin' to eat afta."

"That sounds perfect," she said. "I'll see you Sunday."

She was about to turn around when, like Fred had done, Erik grabbed a hold of Alex and pulled her into a hug. It was even more shocking that Erik would hug Alex. What if the other Dragons saw? Would he get in trouble? Would he be in danger? However, it didn't seem like he cared. Alex didn't mind either.

The hug was much tighter and much more comforting than the hug Fred had given Alex. His muscular arms were tight around her while her arms were tight, but not too tight, around his neck. She could feel him rest his head on top of her head while her head was on his chest. She wasn't very tall and he was taller than her. It was much warmer and friendly. She had been needing a hug. She was a huggy person (not the diapers).

He pulled away and leaned forward, looking straight into Alex's eyes. The tips of their noises were almost touching and Alex though he was going to kiss her. Her cheeks grew a bright red blush and she became very nervous. He smirked at the sight of her blush. "You'se payin'. It's payback," he laughed.

He pulled back and walked away, leaving Alex stunned in her place on the street.

o-0-o

When Alex got back to the apartment, she was shocked to see her weapons on the couch in their shipping packages. It seemed they had arrived early and April signed for them while Alex was at school that day. She couldn't have been happier.

She had ordered what she used to have. There was a black steel fighting fan along with a black manriki chain, a black steel tanto. She also had her black katon katana that her brother, Zack had gotten back for her. She had everything she used to. Now she wouldn't be so defenseless in a fight with the turtles. She could fight to her fullest potential with her weapons, although a true worrier could fight with anything. She just preferred those over anything else.

She planned on keeping the tanto, fan and manriki chain with her wherever she went, just in case anything happened. It wouldn't have been the first time and she could promise you (Northie: Or I could promise you, but let's just get back to the story.) it wouldn't be the last. The sword she was planning on either keeping in her room or at the Lair. She couldn't choose. In the mean time, however, she was going to bring it with her to show off to the guys. She had promised to watch a movie with Mikey and help Donny with some research.

She had also ordered a new training outfit. The last one had been ripped and stained with blood. It was easier to just throw it away rather than try and fix it up and get all the blood out of it. Plus, it was a little outdated and was heavier, slowing Alex down. She couldn't afford to be slow. No, that wasn't something she needed.

The gloves were fingerless and had protective steel in the outside it she found herself fighting against someone with a weapon and not one for herself. She also had steel pads on her elbows and knees. She couldn't be too careful. She had also gotten a mask than could be pulled up over the bottom part of her face, over her noise, but not her eyes or forehead. She had a green head band to keel her head out of her eyes and pulled up into a pony tail. She had a breast plate or shield that stopped just under her breasts, but covering everything, making sure she was protected. Under that she had a black shirt that had no sleeves and stopped a little further down that the breast plate. The pants were more like spandex than anything else. They were skin tight, but allowed air to get in so she wouldn't sweat as much. The knee pads were over the pants. Her sword was sheathed behind her back like Leo's was. She also had a belt where she could secure her tanto and fan. The manriki chain was wrapped around her waist like a belt.

She thought it was light and comfortable, maybe a little showy and showed a little skin, but she didn't care. She liked it and that was all that mattered. Well, that and April approved.

o-0-o

After watching two movies with Mikey, Alex walked over to Donny's work area to finally start helping him, like she had promised. Donny was examining some of the crystals that they had found in their new Lair when they moved in. The really were strange crystals.

"Sorry," Alex said as she pulled up a stool to sit next to Donny. "You know how Mikey is when he wants something. I couldn't say no."

"I've lived with him my whole life," Donny laughed. "Trust me, I know." He handed Alex one of the blue crystals and pointed to another microscope beside the one he was using. "Why don't you try and classify that one while I try to do the same with this one."

"Got it," Alex said.

After looking at the crystals for who knows how long, Alex was left with the conclusion that they were like nothing she had ever seen before. They were not clastic, crystalline or bioclastic. So, there was no way it was a sedimentary rock. They weren't vesicular and it wasn't lava or magma, lava being liquid rock outside of the Earth, while magma was inside the Earth. It wasn't igneous. It also wasn't any kind of metamorphic rock.

She had no idea what the heck they were.

"Hey Donny, whatcha doin'?" asked Mikey.

"I'm checking out these crystals we found when we moved in here," Donny replied. "I'm trying to classify them, but I can't find anything like them in the books. The microscopic crystal structures are linked, almost like mutated brain cells."

"I see what you mean," Alex muttered. "I've taken plenty of Earth Science classes and I've never seen anything like this. It makes me wander; where did they come from?"

"Ooooweeeeeoooooooo," Mikey sounded, like from one of the science fiction movies he had been watching all night.

Donny looked at him strangely. "I beg your pardon?"

Alex couldn't help but giggle. Donny may be smart, but not when it came to movie things.

"Late night monster movies," Mikey informed. He moved the light so it was shining in his face in a creepy way. "'Perhaps there are some things man was never meant to tamper with.' Nothing says a turtle can't tamper with."

"Does that mean I'm not allowed to work anymore?" Alex joked. It was getting late and she did need to get home soon, but if she had to stay the night, April wouldn't mind. But she had to make sure she got home to get ready for the movies the next day with her human friends.

Mikey took the two mysterious crystals and brought them together. When the two crystals touched, however, they made the loudest and one of the most annoying noises that Alex had ever heard in her life. She covered her ears and looked at the crystals puzzled and confused, along with Mikey and Donny.

"Donatello," Master Splinter said as he walked into the room after hearing the loud noise. "What is it?" Leo and Raph had been woken up and were coming towards the three late nighters. "What is happening?"

"What's with the noise?" asked Raph.

"I'm not quite sure," Donny admitted.

"Make it stopped!" yelled Alex. Her hands were still covering her sensitive ears. They were really bothering her. "Donny! Take them away from him!"

Mikey set them both on the table, still touching and ringing very loudly. Donny grabbed something that looked like tongs and picked one of the crystals. The noises stopped instantly when Donny took the crystal away from the other one. It seemed as if when they made contact they made the noise.

"Oh thank God," muttered Alex as she took her hands away from her ears. "I should really bill you guys for a hearing aid."

"Are we in any danger, Donatello?" asked Master Splinter.

"Maybe the harmonics of the energy signature of the crystalline structure?" Donny rambled. The only one other than Donny himself, who could understand any of that, was Alex. Even then, he wasn't completely sure what he was spitting out there.

"You don't know, do ya?" Raph asked.

"Not a clue," Donny confirmed.

Mikey rushed up from behind them and said, "I started the whole thing!"

"Now I know who's buying me a hearing aid," murmured Alex. An alarm suddenly went off in the Lair. "Great, more loud noises!" It wasn't as annoying as the crystals, but it was still loud. She didn't have to put her hands over her ears, though.

"Now what is it?" Leo asked.

"Something tripped a perimeter alarm in one of the old subways tunnels," Donny said, looking at his computer with Raph, Leo and Alex.

Something tall, like a human, but skinnier and much faster than a normal human. It was moving very quickly. In a couple seconds, if had run across the frame of the video and disappeared. It was strange, but not too strange for them. Nothing was ever too strange. They were mutant turtles, for crying out loud!

"What in the-," Leo started.

"Sewer rats are getting' bigger," Raph said as he pulled out his sai.

"Yeah," Mikey said. "It's time to cut the cheese!" Leo just smacked himself on the head and shook it annoyed. "That's not what I meant."

"Let's roll," Leo said.

Donny got his duffle bag ready for them to take to investigate. That gave Alex enough time to change into the outfit she had just got and take her weapons out of the backpack she had placed them in. She hadn't had time to show anything to the guys yet because when she walked into the Lair, Mikey dragged her to the couch to start the movie right away. She sort of forgot after them.

They ran out to the hover craft thing that Donny made. They all fit in perfectly. Donny was driving while Leo, Raph, Mikey and Alex stood behind him, holding onto the support bar so they wouldn't fall out of the vehicle. They drove faster than a lot of cars could on the surface through the sewer tunnels.

"Let's not announce ourselves," Leo said. "Switch to stealth mode."

Donny flipped a lever and the noise from the loud craft instantly stopped. Alex had to give Donny credit where credit was due. She couldn't have been able to build something like that on her own. Maybe if she had some help, like from Donny or April, or even one of the other scientists at what used to be Stocktronics.

Donny stopped the craft and everybody jumped out. First was Alex, and them the turtles. She had jumped onto the side where the concrete was. She'd rather not walk in the sewage if it wasn't necessary. It smelt, but she had gotten used to it because of the slight hint of the smell in the Lair. It didn't always smell like that in the Lair, but it was enough to distinguish. She didn't want to smell to stick with her. She was going to take a shower before she went to the movies the next night, but she didn't know if it was stick to her.

"Nothing," Raph said as everyone looked around.

"Don't be too sure," Donny warned. He shined his flashlight at the ceiling. They all could see strange foot prints on the ceiling and walls of the sewer tunnels. They were like nothing Alex had never seen before. "This is odd."

"What have you got?" asked Leo.

"Some kind of weird tracks," Donny replied. "They're melted right into the stone."

They followed the tracks to a large hole in the wall. It was like something had, to quote Donny, "Melted right into the stone." The hole was big enough for all of them to climb into. They'd have to crouch, but they could fit.

"Whatever it was, it tunneled right through the cement," Raph said. (I just have to say that cement is concrete when wet. The dry stuff you walk on is concrete. My father is a brick layer.)

"Donny," Alex said front behind him. "Don't you think some samples are in order?"

He shook his head and put him bag down on the floor. He pulled out a bag and a small chisel to take a small sample of the melted, hardened concrete. "It looks like the molecules have unbounded." A small piece of the rock fell into the bag. "Maybe some kind of catalyst or an acid?"  
>"Okay," Mikey said nervously. "This is the part in the monster movie where the first attack happens. The first guy never makes it. Need I say more?"<p>

"Just calm down, Mikey. Till we find out what this is," Leo said. "What is this?" he asked, more towards Donny.

"I have no clue," Alex said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Another mystery," Donny said. "One thing's for sure, though. I've never seen anything like it." Mikey joined in on the last sentence. He had definitely seen too many monster movies. He was starting to get a little too paranoid.

"That's it!" Mikey yelled. "I'm out of here!" He ran to the craft and pulled out his nun chucks defensively.

"Hey, what do you get when you cross a turtle and a chicken?" Raph asked. He looked at the people around him before telling them the answer. "Mikey." It got Alex to giggle.

"I need to get back anyway," Donny said. "To analyze this and find out just what we are dealing with here."

They all walked back to the craft and Donny drove them all back to the Lair. It had to be past midnight. Everyone was tired and curious to what had done that to the sewer tunnel. But most of all, they just wanted to get some sleep. Especially Alex. She wanted to be well rested for her day with her friends.

Everybody gathered around Donny's work area to watch and wait as he did the tests. "Hmm," he murmured.

"Was that a good hmm or a bad hmm?" Mikey asked. "'Cause this is the part in the movie where you should be looking for the monsters one weakness or we can kiss our shells good-bye. Trust me; you don't want to underestimate a monster!"

"What would I be kissing good-bye? Because I don't have a shell," she asked curiously to nobody in particular.

"You have a point," Donny laughed.

Raph was starting to get annoyed with Mikey. He had been drinking a glass of water and splashed it in his face to stop him from freaking out and rambling. Mikey was shocked. He shook his head getting the excess water off of his face.

"Thanks," he said.

"What can you tell us, Donatello?" asked Splinter.

"It looks like that creature melted right through the stone," Donny said. "Being able to liquefy stone is the perfect ability for a subterranean life form."

"I am hearing answers that raise more questions," Splinter said. "A wise strategist gathers all his information deciding a cause of action."

"Anyone up for an fact finding mission? Leo asked, getting up from his spot on the ground.

"If something's out there lookin' for us, I say was find it first," Raph said.

"All in favor, say I," Leo said.

"I," everyone, but Mikey and Alex said. They placed their hand on top on one another and looked at Mikey for a response.

"Meep," Mikey squeaked. He put his and in unsure about what he was doing.

"Close enough," Leo said about Mikey. "What about you, Alex? It's not like you to miss out on something like this."

Alex was completely unsure of what she wanted to do. She really wanted to go with them and find out what the heck this was. It had caught her attention. Plus, she really wanted to try out her new weapons. Yet Alex also wanted to get home and get some rest so she wouldn't be exhausted for the movies with her friends the next day. She really wanted to get out with them. She wanted to give them her full attention and not be half asleep.

"When would you get the chance to do this again?" said Donny trying to get her to say she'd go. She was one of the only people around him who he could have an intelligent conversation with.

"Okay, okay," she said giving in. "I hope I don't regret this."

"Good luck my sons, Alex," Splinter said. "May you return safely."

Leo and Donny ran up ahead while Raph and Alex were about to follow suit, but they heard Mikey behind them say, "Yes, my brothers and dear friend. Good luck to you."

"Come on," Raph and Alex said at the same time as they pulled Mikey to follow them.

Alex had her bag and the guys lent her some things for the mission. She had a blanket, flashlight, thinks like that that she would need. She seemed to finish before the rest of the guys so she decided to call April and tell her what was going on. April wasn't so sure about it, but she let her go none the less. She wished her luck before hanging up.

As they all made their way back to the original sight, the made sure to keep the hover craft noise level down, but they couldn't seem to get Mikey to. He kept talking and talking all the way there. You could tell he was very nervous about what they were about to do. _Maybe he shouldn't watch so many monster movies_, thought Alex.

"Hey Alex," he said, for the fifth time.

"What Mikey?" she asked quietly, but rather annoyed.

"When'd you get the new outfit?" he asked.

Alex was in a little better mood when he asked her that. At least somebody had noticed her knew gear. "It just came in," she replied. "It's much easier to fight in and now I finally have weapons. You know how hard it is to fight a group of Foot when you don't have any weapons and they do?"

"Yup," he said. "I like it, by the way. It looks very nice."

Alex blushed at the compliment. "Thanks Mikey," she said softly. "That's sweet of you."

They finally got back to the melted tunnel. Alex hopped out before everyone. She walked right up to the tunnel with her flashlight to see if she could see anything done the tunnel. She'd rather be safe than sorry. There was nothing there, so Leo and Donny went in first. Alex climbed in after them and made sure she could see the ground. She didn't want to go and trip and make a fool of herself. No, she had done that too many times before with her brothers.

The tunnel came out at what looked to be an abandoned subway tunnel. Old subway cars were there open and welcome homes for rats and spiders. Debris cluttered the ground. It looked as if part of the ceiling had dropped some supports and stones while some of the wooden support beams were missing pieces in them in the first place. It had a rather creepy feeling to it.

"This place gives me the creeps," Alex muttered as she stepped out of the melted tunnel behind Leo and Donny.

"What is this place?" Raph asked.

"There's a whole network of abandoned subway tunnels from the early 1900's down here," Donny replied.

"Abandoned," Mikey said. "Right."

"Here that creaking?" Donny said. Everyone stopped walking for a minute and listened to the creaking that was there. "These old supports should have given out long ago. I suggest we all be really, really quiet."

Alex got a bad feeling as they continued to walk deep into the tunnel. She couldn't help but feel like someone or something was watching her. She stopped and took a quick look around her to see nothing. She couldn't see anything, but the feeling was still there. This place gave her the creeps. The sooner they got this mission over with the better. She didn't want to be buried alive at the age fifteen. She at least wanted to live past her teenage years. Well, with the way things were going with the turtles, the foot and the Dragons she wasn't going to make it to sixteen. She hoped she could become stronger so at least she could live to sixteen.

"Any sign of the creature's tracks?" Leo asked very quietly. He stopped causing Alex to run into him. She gave him an apologetic smile, not wanting to talk in fear of the place collapsing. She looked down at when his flashlight was shining on, on the ground.

It was definitely a footprint of some kind, but it was none like Alex had ever seen before. There were four toes. Two in the front, one to the left side, one to the right side and a very small heel in the back. Nope, definitely not _human_ or _sewer rat_.

"Nope," Mikey said. "Nothing. Let's go home."

Leo was the first to continue walking. Donny and Raph were right behind him. Alex grabbed Mikey's hand and gave him a little pull to continue on walking. _Really, you'd think I'd be more scared than Mikey_, Alex thought. _He's the one who's been living in underground tunnels his whole life_.

They followed the tracks, but they were all stopped when the ceiling started to shake and little pieces started to come down. Alex was petrified. One of her biggest fears was to be buried alive. This wasn't helping her fear. Her other fears were of bees. She hated bees and clowns. Clowns scared her to death. She didn't know what it was about them at scared her so much, but they did. At least she wasn't being stung to death by bees, surrounded by clowns and in a very unstable underground abandoned subways tunnel. That would have made her have a heart attack.

"Shhh," Leo said quiet, but hastily. "Everyone, be still."

Everyone froze, but then they all heard something that scared them. "Ah," Mikey started. "Ah, ah!"

Raph grabbed him and placed a hand over his noise to prevent Mikey from sneezing. "Not a sound. Got it?"

Raph let go of Mikey and Mikey placed his hand over his own noise. When he talked he sounded rather humorous, "I got it."

They made sure he was going to sneeze before starting to walk, but it seemed they had been wrong. Right after they started to walk Mikey let out a very noisy and very booger filled sneeze. The sneezed echoed though out the place. The ceiling almost gave out, but luckily it didn't.

"Oh thank the Lord," Alex whispered to herself. She almost got a heart attack even without the clowns and bees. "Please don't let me die down here. I don't want to die."

"Mikey for crying out loud," Raph started. _I hope that pun wasn't intended because I think I was the only one who got that, _Alex thought. (If you get it then please tell me because I don't want to be the only one who does ~ Northie) "Next time bring an antihistamine."

Alex got the feeling of being watched again, but this time it was even stronger. She could hear faint footsteps coming from the direction they had been heading and turned to looks. There was a very large creature that looked to be made of stone walking towards them. Alex pulled out her sword and got into a defensive stance. The guys still didn't seem to notice it. _Really, and they're supposed to be ninja, _Alex thought_. _

"Hey," he defended. "How am I supposed to stop a huge grotesque and frankly quiet horrifying monster?"

The creature repeatedly roared causing the tunnel to shake once more. Right above where the five ninja were standing a large part of the ceiling collapsed, but the turned and ran before they were _buried alive_.

_Once in a lifetime chance_, Alex thought. _Yeah right. Once in a lifetime chance in getting yourself buried alive. Next time Alex, tell yourself to pass_. _Donny may be a smart mutant turtle, but he's not always right!_

The five ninjas made their way out of the tunnel and into a caver just in time. As they all jumped into the open area for shelter, their flashlights all went out. Great, now they were in the dark. Now it really seemed like Alex was buried alive. _This isn't my day, is it?_ Alex thought.

"This just gets better and better," Raph complained.

"Just a sec," Donny said. In a matter of seconds the place was dimly lit with the mysterious crystals that they had found in the Lair. The noise wasn't as bad as it was the first time, but it still gave Alex a head ache. She wasn't complaining, though. She'd rather had the light and head ache than be completely in the dark underground with monsters after them.

Donny. Raph, Leo and Mikey all stood up and looked around them. The monster wasn't anywhere to be seen. They were thankful for that.

"You think that things survived?" Raph asked.

"Know your monsters, Raph. It can melt rock," Mikey said. He did have a point.

"Oh yeah," Raph said. "Maybe I forgot because I was trying not to get buried in a collapsing subway tunnel!"

"Everybody calm down," Leo said, taking charge. "Let's keep moving."

"Little help," Alex said.

While they had been arguing, Alex had been trying to get her leg out from under a rather large pile of rocks. She had gotten part of it out, but she was having trouble moving the larger ones without being able to stand or move very much. Her leg hurt greatly, but she could tell it wasn't broken or sprained. It was all thanks to her new suit. It had built in steel guards. If she hadn't had that, her bone most likely would have shattered.

The guys helped move the rest of the rocks away and Leo helped Alex stand up. "How does it feel?"

"Bad," she replied. "But I've had worse. It's just really bruised."

"Can you walk?" Donny asked.

"I should be, but I don't know how fast I can go at first. I have to get used to it, you know?" she said. She took a couple steps, but ended up stopping and taking off some pressure.

"Here," Leo said. "Let me help you and when you feel it's a little better you can go one your own."

"Thanks Leo," she said giving him a very nice smile.

The group continued to walk following the tracks from before. After a couple minutes with walking with Leo Alex was able to go off on her own. He stayed close by to make sure he was there for her if she needed any help though. She thought it was very sweet of him for thinking about her.

They came to a rather large cliff and looked down. "I wouldn't want to fall down that," Alex said.

Donny pulled out some rope and tied it off. He started down first, Mikey was second and then Raph. Alex had stopped before she was about to grab the rope and go down after Leo. Leo looked up worried why she wasn't coming down. "You need help?" he asked.

Alex shook her head no. "I'm coming," she said. Before grabbing onto the rope she looked behind her to see it anything was there. The feeling was still there and it was starting to worry her. The last time she had had the feeling they had been attacked. She wasn't going to take any chances and not check to see if anything was there. She couldn't see anything, though. So, she continued down the rope with the others.

The rope was just long enough to go down to the bottom of the caver. It had taken them forever to get all the way down and they were all beat. They all stopped to rest at the bottom. Alex's leg hadn't needed that strain, but she hadn't wanted to ask Leo for help because that would have weakened him. She couldn't ask him to carry her down.

"I'm beat," Donny said.

"Even my back ache's got back ache," Mikey complained.

"Let's make camp," Leo said. He turned to Raph and asked, "Are you up for first watch?"

He took out his sai and started to twirl them around. "You know me," he said.

They had placed the crystals in the middle of their circle like a camp fist. Raph leaned up against the cavern wall as he took first watch. Alex had pulled out her sleeping back like the others and was comfortably resting on the hard dirt ground on a couple of rocks. Yeah, okay so maybe it wasn't the most comfortable place, but she sucked it up anyways.

She was just about to fall asleep when she heard Raph start to talk. "Guys wake up," he said. In an instant, Alex was up on her feet with her sword pull out defensively. "Mikey, rise and shine." Alex looked up to see the monster coming towards them. "Everybody up. We're under attack. Our friend is back."

"So, running would be good, right?" Mikey asked.

"Huh?" Alex heard Leo mutter to himself.

She looked over in the direction he was looking in and saw a very large bolder moving at the top of the cavern being moved by a red creature. It wasn't the same one that they had been attacked by before. The last one had been grey, like stone. This one was red. And he had it out for them just like that last one.

"Oh come on," Alex grumbled.

"Run!" Leo ordered them all. He didn't have to tell them twice.

They all ran for their lives as the bolder came rolling after them. They guys seemed to be running faster than Alex. Her leg was killing her, but she was trying to go as fast as she could. It wasn't helping her at all. The bolder was right behind her. _I really don't want to be a pancake_, she thought to herself.

"Man," Mikey said. "Don't you hate when this happens."

"When has this every happened to you before, Mikey?" Alex asked.

They kept running and came to an opening, but had to stop. There was another cavern, but there was a landing across from them and what looked to be something like a broken bridge. This was just getting weirder and weirder. _Of course there just happened to be a bridge underground in the middle of nowhere. That didn't seem suspicious at all, _Alex thought.

"Aw great," Raph said. "The bridge is out."

"Now what do we do?" Mikey asked.

Raph grabbed a graflting hook out of his back and swung it around. He could clearly hear Leo tell him to hurry up so he let it go and it clung onto a rock on the other side. "Grab on," Raph told everyone.

They all jumped just in time to miss the large bolder. When they jumped though, Mikey had called out his signature kowabunga.

"Mikey," Raph started."I told you no more kowabunga." The hook at the top began to slip as they climbed up. "It's slipping," Raph stated to obvious.

"Now what?" Mikey asked again. It seemed like he asked that question a lot.

"Crack the whip," Raph said. "On my signal!" He started to jump. "One, two, three."

The hook let go, but they were already flying up towards the ground on the top of the cliff. The turtles all landed on their feet, but Alex landed on her bad leg and then fell on her but. _This really wasn't the best time to have gotten hurt_.

"I like a little excitement first thing in the morning," Mikey said.

"Morning? Oh man," Alex whined. "I'm never going to get to hang out with my friends. I'm going to be trapped underground for the rest of my life with four mutant turtles." She knew she was being a little dramatic, but she had almost gotten buried alive, broke her leg, squished by a bolder and fallen to her doom. She kind of disserved to be dramatic.

"How are we going to get back with those things bowling for turtles?" Raph asked.

"And girl," Alex added in. "Don't forget. I'm a human girl."

"Look at this," Donny said.

Everyone turned to see two very misshapen doors and a strange room. That didn't belong there either. Did anybody else think this was really strange, but Alex. "Okay, this just keeps getting weirder. First a mysterious bridge underground where nobody should ever be and not a room? What is this world coming to?"

"Not to make things worse," he said. "But you'll notice the doors were forced open from the inside. Something was trying to get out."

"No, that doesn't make things worse," Mikey said. "It makes things horrifying"

"I don't blame them for wanting to get out," Alex said. "I want to get out of here too."

"Shhh," Leo shushed Mikey.

They all entered the room and looked around. Mostly everything in there was broken, but you could still see that it looked something like a libratory. _This really is like a monster movie_, thought Alex.

"Anybody got a clue what this place is?" Raph asked.

Everybody took off their gear and walked in further. "You want a wild guess?" Mikey asked.

"No," Raph said.

"I'm seeing devises related to physiology, biology, gnome analysis. My guess is it's a genetics lab," Donny said. "They were experimenting with mutation."

"Ooooweeeeeoooooooo," Mikey sounded again, like from one of the science fiction movies he had been watching that night.

"Mikey no!" Alex yelled as she saw him take a step back into what looked to be a laser light that nobody else had seen except for her. Alarms when off again. "More loud noises? Really?"

"_Mikey_," the guys scolded.

The doors slammed shut. They were trapped inside the room.

"Over there!" Donny yelled. In the center of the room was a crystal like the ones they had, but much larger. It started to glow. The strange blue light started to slowly take over the room.

"What the shell is that?" Mikey asked.

"Looks like some sort of force field," Donny replied.

Alex ran back over to the door to see if there was any way of getting it open. She tried to open it by hand, my her sword and by the technology around it. The thing really didn't want to open. She gave up and turned around to see how the guys were doing. What they had done didn't seem to work either.

"Something is telling me, 'Do Not Touch!'" Mikey said.

"Gee, you think?" Raph said rhetorically.

Alex ran over to the turtles as they tried to push the field away. She joined them and tried to push too, but it wasn't helping any. Around her she could see that everything else wasn't being affected by the field. _Really?_ she asked herself. _Why did I have to be a living organism?_ She knew that didn't make much sense, but she couldn't help but think it.

"Looks like this energy field only affects living tissue," Donny said.

"To bad that's exactly what we're made out of," Raph said.

_Okay, so I wasn't the only one thinking that. That makes me feel a little better_, Alex thought.

"Donny what do we do?" Leo asked.

"I'm thinking!" he yelled. "I'm thinking!"

"Well," Mikey said. "Think harder or we're going to be a whole lot thinner."

"The crystal," Donny finally said when they were all pushed up against the rock walls of the room. "It's somehow powering all this. Raph, your sai can go throw field. Aim for the crystal!"

Alex fell forward onto her chest as the field retreated back into the devise. She noticed the door open as she stood up. "Sure, now you open."

"And that's the end of that," Raph said.

"It's only the beginning," Donny corrected. "Look at this."

There was a very big television screen that had somehow turned on by itself. Which, once again, Alex seemed to think was very weird. One the screen was the three toed foot symbol. _Great_, Alex thought. More Shredder things. _I thought we were done with him! I guess that's could be true, but the guys still aren't home yet. That worries me. If the leader was no longer there then wouldn't they be able to leave and come home? I suppose there could be a second in command, like Hun. He might be the one who isn't letting them go._

_"_Every time we hit trouble the Foot sign in plastered right on it," Raph said. "What is it this time?"

_You're not making me feel any better about this, Raph. _

"Let's find out," Leo said.

Donny walked around to what looked to be the control panel and started to press buttons. "These look like some kind of video archive logs," Donny said. "I'll see if I can access them."

A creepy looking man with a weird he set came onto the screen as Donny got it to play. He said, "Day one. Project commences. Master Shredder believes his enemies have taken refuse underground. Our Foot Soldiers have been unable to locate them so the genetic division has been directed to mutate human subjects so they can explore deeper into the Earth."

"No," a rather scared man said on a test table. He was strapped down with metal bars and a tube was connected to his arm. A green liquid ran through the tube and into the man. "No! Please!"

"The subject appears to be in some discomfort, but this is a minor annoyance."

"Minor discomfort my butt," Alex muttered as she saw the man transform into a beast.

"Thank poor guy," Leo said.

"This is starting to get really weird," Mikey said.

"Starting?" Raph and Alex both said at the same time. At least they were both on the same page.

"Day 345," the mad scientist said. "The experiment appears to be a success. Thought the subjects are exhibiting reduced intelligence." The screen changed into another log and the man continued to speak, "Day 575. The subjects are showing signs of instability. Becoming angry and vicious. Curtain aspects of the experiment have gone horribly wrong. Have we attempted too much in developing this unnatural life form? Perhaps there are some things man was never meant to tamper with."

Of course Mikey had to say the same line too because it was the same line as in the movies. "That's the one line in a monster movie you don't want to hear."

"Through the generous use of shock restraints," the man continued in another video, "The creatures have been trained to retrieve evidence from their explorations." Once again it changed. "Day 699. The project is a success. Our creatures have found evidence of habitation underground. Which has been turned over to Master Shredder. I've been told he is quite pleased.

"Day 733. The settlement we found is not what Master Shredder was looking for. He has pronounced the project a failure. We have been ordered to shut down the operation and destroy the creatures. " Another video came on. Screams could be heard from the background. "The creatures have freed themselves. They are more intelligent than we ever dreamed. They have been manipulating us all along while waiting for their moment to escape." The man screamed as the monsters when after him.

The video when dead and everyone was quiet. This was much more than any of them had anticipated. This was more than they could have every dreamed. They all looked at the screen as if waiting to see if another video would come on, but they all knew it wouldn't. If was obvious from their surroundings what happened after that.

A loud roar came from behind them. Alex scream along with Mikey. Alex clung onto Raph's arm while Mikey clung onto Leo. "So there is always on guy in the monster movie who freaks out cause he can't take the pressure and the girl always screams. And I'm going to do an impression of him right now and it goes something like this, 'Get me out of here!'" He started to run to the door.

"Does he expect me to scream because I already did that and I think I've got that all out of my system," Alex said. Donny just shrugged.

"Not that I'd ever agree with him, but he's got a point," Raph said.

"Agreed," Leo said. "Fun's over. Let's go."

"Fun? Who said this was any fun?" Alex said as she ran with them to the door. They all walked out of the room and back into the cave. One of the walls started to melt and three monsters came out. "I forgot they could do that."

They all started to back up as the monsters grew closer. "Hey guys," Mikey said as they all pulled out their weapons. "This isn't the end of the movie, is it?"

TO BE CONTINUED . . .


	12. Notes from Underground Part 2

**Here's the next part for you! I hope you like it. I'd like to thank tmntfreak1996 and kaaayyytteee for reviewing. I can always count on you guys to review and tell me what you think. Thanks guy, you're the best.  
>There's one more thing I'd like to put out there. I have to add in love interests into this and I want to know who and what you want. Tell me if you want Alex to fall for the turtles, Erik or Fred. Tell me if you want her to fall for all of them, if you want. Just make sure I know. Thanks guys!<br>~Northie**

Chapter 12  
>"Notes from Underground"<br>Part 2

"Ah, I think I speak for all of us when I say, 'Zoynks,'" Mikey said. They all backed up into the room again and away from the three monsters. Of course, they followed them in. The blue monster spit green liquid at them and it hit the ground, melting a large hole.

"That's it," Raph said.

"Okay," Mikey said after everyone pulled out their weapons. "You guys take the three on the left. "

"There are only three," Raph said.

"There's one for each of you and I'll just be odd turtle out," he continued to say. "Alex can join in whenever someone needs help."

"Oh thanks Mikey," Alex retorted sarcastically.

"You're telling me," Raph added.

The large red creature hit a large metal machine and sent it flying across the room at the ninja. Everyone managed to jump out of the way in time. Alex, Raph, Leo and Don all jumped into battle right away, while Mikey, on the other hand just stood there and watched with a nervous and worried expression on his face.

Alex decided to help Donny out with the red creature. It looked like he wasn't getting very far with just his staff as he kept hitting the guy with it on the chest. The creature raised his arms to hit Donny over the head before he had the chance to jump back so Alex grabbed a hold of the back of his shell and pulled him back with her. However, in doing so, the creature followed them, grabbed Donny and threw him across the room like he it had with the machine.

As the creature was distracted, Alex pulled out her manriki chain and hit the creature on the head with the heavy piece of metal on the end to get its attention away from Donny. The creature growled and lunged at Alex. She managed to jump back, but stumbled over a can. She fell on her butt as the creature grew near. She swung the chain around the creatures leg and gave it a stern pull, causing the creature to fall.

Alex jumped up and made sure to stand a good amount of distance away from the thing. The creature lost interest in Alex and turned its attention to Donny again, who was much closer to it. Alex took that opportunity to look around to see how everyone else was going. Mikey was still standing around watching everything. Leo was fighting the blue acid monster and Raph was fighting the rock monster. Everyone seemed to be holding their own, sort of. There was the exception of Mikey.

Alex was about to jump back into the action when the red monster went flying past Alex by a kick from Raph to save Donny. She then heard a loud roar from the rock creature and looked up to see him climbing the walls and eating through the ceiling. The trail, as it moved, lead over to where Mikey was standing.

"Mikey," Alex whispered as she saw the monster's head come out of the rock above Mikey.

It seemed Raph and Alex had the same ideas, in a sense. As Alex ran over and pulled Mikey a couple steps away, Raph kicked the monster as it jumped down from the ceiling to get to Mikey. Alex let out a sigh of relief to the mess they had just prevented. Mikey needed to look out for himself more.

"Watch your back, you odd ball," Raph said to Mikey. "Alex and I can't always be there to watch it for you!"

"You just called me odd, didn't you?" Mikey said sounding hurt.

_This really isn't the time, Mikey. Get your head in the game, _thought Alex_. _

As Mikey turned his back to Alex and Raph, who just shook their heads at one another, the rock creature lunged and tackled Raph, but not without hitting Alex and sending her a couple feet in front of Mikey. He helped her up to her feet, still lost in his thoughts. "I'm not odd. I'm eccentric." Alex only had enough time to roll her eyes before she was sent flying to the ground again, this time by Donny being thrown by the red creature.

"Raph thinks I'm odd," he complained to Donny.

"You're just being sensitive," Donny told Mikey before running into battle.

"Sensitive?" Mikey asked angry and shocked. "If there's one thing I hate, it's when people call me sensitive."

Alex got up to her feet and shook her head to stop the spinning. It didn't work very well. Being knocked around like that wasn't fun. It also wasn't helping her leg, but what could she do? She wasn't just going to stand there and watch like Mikey was doing. It wasn't in her nature. If she had the chance to help then she would jump in without a second thought.

Alex heard a noise and looked over in the direction of it. Her eyes widened as she saw the blue creature coming frying towards her on a cart. Alex was rambled by the creature and cart into a large machine. They hit a panel that short circuited and electrocuted both Alex and the creature. Alex let out a scream of pain as she hit the ground under the creature. They both looked at one another and she kicked it away from her ad Leo came running to help. He had to stop because it spat acid at him.

The creature picked Alex up by the neck and carried her out into the middle of the room, spitting more acid at Leo as he dodged. Alex tried to kick the creature, but it held her out to far to do so. She also couple grab any of her weapons because if she didn't hold onto the creatures hand she'd be hanging by her neck choking. Not that she wasn't choking in the first place, but when she held on she could at least get a little more air.

"You will take no more of us," the creature yelled at Alex and Leo.

Alex looked at the creature in disbelief. She managed to huff out, "You can talk?"

"We're not here to take anybody," Leo called out. "Just give us back the girl!"

_Right so now I'm __**The Girl**__, _thought Alex. She was taken out of her thoughts when the large glass containers next to her and the creature broke and started to come crashing down on top of them. The creature was stunned and didn't know what to do.

"Look out!" Leo yelled as he jumped to push the two out of the way of the crash. Leo helped Alex up and looked at the creature before them. "Why have you attacked up?"

"Leo!" Alex yelled as she just saw the red creature charge at them and hit them across the room. It seemed the red creature like to send things flying across the room a lot. This time it just happened to be Leo and Alex. It didn't feel very good either.

Leo and Alex got separated in mid air. Leo hit the ceiling and then fell to the ground on Mikey while Alex hit another part of the ceiling and then landed on her bad leg. She screamed out as the pain vibrated up her leg, through her torso, out her arms, rattle in her head and then back down to her leg. She really wished her had been a little quicker earlier so she didn't get trapped in the collapse. It really didn't help that it was the same leg she had been bitten by the Mouser the first time she met the guys.

"You know something, Mikey?" Leo said. "They're thinking we're somebody else."

"Aw man," Mikey complained. "That's just great. We're getting our shells shellacked and it's someone else's fight."

"Then I vote we get the shell out of here," Donny said as he and Raph made their way over to the other three.

"Run away?" Raph asked as he helped Alex up to her feet. He made she was alright before letting her go. "That ain't my style."

"Call it a tactical retreat," Leo suggested. "Let's move."

"We're leaving," Donny said as he pressed a button on a control panel and the door behind them opened.

Alex, Leo, Donny and Mikey all ran into the tunnel while Raph stood there for a minute looking at the creatures. He followed them moments later. They all ran into a room with one other door. Donny tried to open it but it wouldn't budge.

"It's ceiled tight," he called out.

The roars of the creatures could be heard coming from the tunnel they had just come from. They all turned to look. That was when Alex noticed the door. "The door!" she yelled. "Get that door shut!"

Everyone rushed over to the door and tried to push it shut. They managed to shut it just in time, but they were punching large dents in the door. It was a matter of time before they either broke it down or put a hole of acid into it.

"Is somebody going to answer that?" Mikey asked.

The door was knocked off the large metal hinges and went flying across the room. Alex had just enough time to jump out of the way. She was almost made a pancake. She really didn't want to be a pancake. Then the rock creature dug through the floor and guarded the other exit, the one they couldn't open in the first place. They were being cornered in.

The red and rock creatures were about to attack the blue creature walked in and yell, "No!" He walked up to them and faced them himself.

"Say the word bro," Raph said.

"Easy guys," Leo said. "It's okay."

The creature sniffed Leo before pointing its finger at them and asking, "Who are you?"

"Not who you think we are," Leo replied.

"The why do you carry those?" it asked. He was pointing to Donny's bag. Donny opened it and looked at the crystals. Great, it was all because of the crystals.

"Whoa," Leo said. "Wait a minute. We found these in a cavern where we're staying. That's all."

"And just what business is it of yours anyways?" Raph asked.

"Those crystals are the embodiment of evil," the blue one said. "Why have you come here?"

"Since one of you ogres started sniffing around our place looking for trouble," Mikey said. "So we're here to-"

Donny put his hand over Mikey's mouth preventing him from saying what he wanted to. They didn't need any more unnecessary trouble. "To just look for some answers. That's all."

"I'm Leonardo," Leo introduced. "And these are my brothers, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo. This is our close friend Alex."

_At least I'm not just __**The Girl**__ this time,_ Alex thought.

"We were drawn to your habitat when your crystals were activated," the blue one said.

"Gee," Donny said. "I wonder who could have done that." Mikey just shrugged.

"Their energy is a sign of danger to us," the creature said. "So we considered you dangerous. Though we usually sense them coming from deeper below."

"Below?" Donny asked. "You mean there are more of these crystals down there? We'd just like to find out where they came from. That's all. And maybe-"

"No! It is a forbidden place," he said. "Something unspeakable dwells amidst the crystals. There were some things man was never meant to tamper with."

Donny put his hand over Mikey's mouth while Alex let out a giggle. They all knew what Mikey was going to say and none of them wanted to hear it. They had heard enough of it already.

"He is an odd one," the blue creature said.

Alex couldn't help but laugh out loud at that. Poor Mikey. Even the weird creatures thought it was odd. There was just no break for the mutant turtle, was there? It sure made things funny though. Alex had to give him that.

They all started to walk out of the room and back into the one they had been fighting in not minutes before. "I don't trust these guys," Alex heard Mikey said.

"Why?" Raph asked.

"Try the fact that they're monsters," he replied.

"Yeah, but to some people so are we," Donny said.

"He has a point Mikey," Alex said. "Remember, April passed out when she first saw you."

"I can't believe Shredder had you genetically altered as diggers just to search down here for some enemy," Leo said.

"Yes and he did so without remorse," it replied. "We were forced against our will to do his bidding."

"He just snatched you at random?" Leo asked. "From where?"

"The streets, our offices, our homes. Anywhere a shadow could conceal a Foot Solder. We don't know what we were chosen."

"That sounds too familiar," Alex whispered to herself so nobody could hear. Why were her brothers chosen? Why them and not somebody else?

"What's your name?" Leo asked.

"I am Quarry of tunnel squad three," he introduced. "The others are Stonebighter and Raserfist."

"No," Leo said. "Not what the foot called you. Your real name."

"S-S," it placed its hands on it head. "My memory is," Quarry started. "The experiments took hold of us. Striped us of who we are."

"Yes," Leo said. "We saw the video log entries."

"Don't worry about Shredder," Raph said. "He got his dues."

"Yeah! He made the mistake of messing with the Ninja Turtles. There's a lesson to be learned in that," Mikey said. "If you know what I mean."

Alarms went off making everyone gasp. "More alarms? Come on all ready!" Alex nearly shouted. "I'm really getting tired of this."

"Oh no," Quarry said looking at a machine. "The others. They've tripped an alarm in the east delta tunnel. Hurry!" They all followed Quarry over to the crystal in the machine in the middle of the room. "We must activate the energy shield!" The crystal didn't seem to do anything as Quarry pressed button after button. "No, no!"

"Don't so a 'no, no.' I hate no, no's," Mikey said.

"It's no good," Quarry said. "The shield will not activate. We have no power. No force field and they're headed this way."

"Uh yeah," Raph said. "We kinda met your force field."

"And Raph kind of broke it," Mikey added.

More roars could be heard. "What is out there?" Leo asked.

"The others," Quarry replied.

"Other what?" Leo asked.

"Test subjects," it replied. "Like us. They endlessly prowl the tunnels."

"Why do you have to keep them out?" Leo asked.

"Because they attack us. They are violent. Uncontrollable. They're minds have deteriorated."

"From the genetic mutation?" Leo kept pushing.

"Yes."

"Then what about you three?"

"Madness looms in our futures as well." Quarry continued to try and fix the machine. He tried again. "The crystal is completely burned out. It is hopeless." With that, all the ninja pulled out their weapons and prepared to fight. "Weapons will do no good. Without the force field we don't stand a chance against them."

"We have to do something," Alex said. "We can't just give up!"

Another set of roars. "They'll be on us in minutes."

"You know," Mikey started. "You're kind of freaking me out here. Are you always such a naysayer?"

Donny jumped up to the crystal and pulled it out, but it fell apart in his hands. "Is that what the crystals are? Power sources?"

"Yes, but that was our only one," Quarry said. "When we found it in the catacombs we paid dearly for it."

"Well," Leo started in. "What about one of ours?" he asked as he pulled one out of Donny's bag.

"They're too small," Quarry said. "It would not last."

Donny took it and put it in place of the old crystal. "It only has to last until they give up and move on." It started to light up, but did nothing. "Come on." Donny tried to adjust it.

Raph, Stonebighter and Raserfist all rushed to close the doors before the other creatures could come. They shut them and waited there while Alex, Donny, Leo and Quarry tried to figure out what was wrong with the machine.

"There is no spark," Quarry said.

Donny tried to make it spark by touching it with the other small crystal. "For some reason it just won't start up. Maybe the connections to these contact node were charred."

"Or maybe you got the thing upside down," Mikey suggested as he jumped up there with them.

"It's not upside down Mikey," Donny scolded.

The creatures finally reached the door and started to pound to get in. One of the creatures got their hand in and tried to scratch Raph's head to pieces. Stonebighter pushed the door shut even more, getting the creatures arm out of the way.

"Okay!" Donny yelled. "Let's try it again."

Leo handed the crystal over as the creatures broke through the door. Four large, even scarier looking monsters then the ones they had become friends with came walking into the room looking rather mad. Donny looked at Mikey and turned the crystal the other way around into the machine. It lit up.

"It's working!" Donny yelled.

The field engulfed them, but pushed the other monsters away. Alex didn't get how it could tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys, but she wasn't complaining. As long as it was protecting her she was all good. It was better than being out there with the insane monsters.

"Don't think I didn't see that, Donny. It was upside down," Mikey bragged.

"It's over loading," Quarry said. The crystal was flickering. It wouldn't hold much longer.

"They're leaving," he added. The monsters, were in fact leaving. It was just in time too. Once they were out of sight the crystal's field gave out, leaving everyone in it exposed once more. "But tomorrow they'll be back. They always come back."

"The you better have a bigger crystal," Leo said.

"We will not survive another journey to the forbidden zone," Quarry said.

"What makes the place so forbidden?" Mikey asked.

"The ancient catacombs stretch for miles," he started to explain. "We were forced to explore it. Many of us never returned."

"Uh," Mikey started again."Maybe they got lost?"

"They were taken by a ghostly entity," Quarry said, angry. "There is never any sign of a struggle. They're just gone."

"Look," Leo said. "I understand why you don't want to go down there, but there aren't a lot of options. You need another crystal and fast."

"And since we were the ones to kind of fried your system we'll go with you," Raph said. "Right guys?"

"You know the corner hardware store has a sale on generators that would really get this force field humming," Mikey said. "So I'll just go up top. Clip the coupon then-"

Raph and Alex grabbed Mikey's shell and dragged him along as they all left the room and out into the cave. Alex was walking in front of Donny with the crystal and the rest walked behind her. Why they made the girl with the injured leg walk first was no clue to her, but she didn't mind. She liked being able to see where she was going.

o-0-o

"Could you guys," Alex started to squeak off. "GET OFF OF ME!"

They all started to get off Alex one by one. They all had fallen down what almost looked like a slide, but it wasn't as fu as a slide. They hadn't seen it and weren't expecting it to be there when the creatures said it was a faster ways to go. _Most like a more painful way to go_, Alex thought.

"In what mutated imagination can that be considered a short cut?" Mikey complained.

"Sorry," Quarry said. "We forgot you could not scale rock."

"Let's try to avoid making that mistake in the future," Raph said. "Okay?"

"Ew," Mikey said waving his hand in front of his nose. "Who cut the cheese?"

"You're smelling a sulfur pool, Mikey," Donny said.

"Coming from a turtle who grew up in a sewer, trust me when I say this place thinks," Mikey continued to say.

"We must keep moving," continued Quarry. "The others wonder down here. This is their territory."

They made their way across the pool of sulfur on little rocks. You had to be careful not to lose your balance and footing or you'd fall in. As Leo was walking, a little bubble came up out of the sulfur and a little creature came out of it. It started to attack Leo, but Quarry's tongue came flying out of his mouth and snatched the creature up. Quarry _ate_ it.

"We learned to either live off the land or it lives off us," Quarry explained.

Alex understood that, but was still grossed out by the thought of having to eat that little, creepy creature. It was gross. She shivered inwardly and continued to follow Quarry out of the sulfur pool. She just hoped she didn't have to eat anything like that while they were down there. She'd starve then.

They came out into a tunnel and had to walk very carefully against the cavern wall with about a couple inches of foot room. Below was very sharp rocks and a whirl pool that none of them really wanted to fall into. Leo almost slipped off the side. Alex almost had a heart attack when she saw him lose his footing.

"Leo, you okay?" Donny asked.

"Whoa," he said. "That was a little too close for comfort. Watch your footing, guys."

"I love that song," Alex said. She didn't really know if anyone would respond, but she didn't care.

"What song?" Mikey asked.

"Too Close For Comfort," she replied. "By McFly. I love those guys."

"Never heard of it," he replied.

"Well, when we get out of here I'll have to have you listen to it," she said.

"_If_ we ever get out of here," Mikey said.

They all made their way out onto a small rock bridge that only went halfway across the large opening. It stopped right above the whirl pool below. "This is it," Quarry said. Raserfist, Quarry and Stonebighter jumped into the center of the whirlpool.

"Following monsters off a cliff may not be the smartest thing we've ever done," Leo said.

Leo, Donny and Raph all jumped in first. Mikey was talking so Alex waited till he was done before jumping in. At least he knew somebody was listening to what he was saying. "Yeah, but it's the grossest. That thing looks like a giant toilet. Which I guess makes me the tidy bowl turtle.

"Come on," Alex said. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over with her.

She did hear him yell out kowabunga as she went under. She was glad Raph hadn't heard it. Alex was pulled out of the water first by Donny. She gave him a kind smile and started to wring out her hair. She watched as Mikey came out and started to go down the current, but was pulled out of the water by Stonebighter by the mouth.

"How far away from the crystals are we?" Leo asked.

"They're here in the catacombs," Quarry replied. "But from this point on we must keep very quiet."

They all started to walk further into the catacombs in search of a larger, stronger crystal. Alex started to inspect the place more carefully. She noticed that it wasn't like the rest of the places they had been to so far.

"Hey Mikey," Donny said. "Recognize these carvings?"

"Whoa," Mikey said, also looking around. "These are just like the carvings in our Lair."

"Yeah, same interior decorator," Raph said.

It got Alex to giggle. Alex and Mikey were a little bit further behind the group. they were about to enter the tunnel when Alex was hit of the head with a rock. "Aw," she complained rubbing the spot on her head. "Did you do that?"

"Do what?" Mikey asked clueless.

They both looked up at the ceiling to see what was going on. They didn't want anything collapsing on them like before. A couple more rocks fell down as they continued to watch one spot in particular. Then, without much warning other then the rocks falling, one of the monsters popped its head out. It was the spider looking one.

"Wait up!" Mikey called as he grabbed a stunned Alex and pulled her into the tunnel. "Guy, guys! We've got monsters right behind me! Ah!"

"Everybody, let's get to cover," Leo said taking charge. They all started to run in the same direction Mikey was going in.

"But that way leads to-" Quarry started to protest.

"No choice! Let's go!" Leo interrupted.

They ran to a large, strange looking door and Raserfist started to pound on it. Stonebighter head butted the door to try and open it while Quarry scratched it with his sharp clawed hands. He also tried to use the acid. _Why were the doors always locked? Is it to always make our lives harder?_ Alex asked herself. _Because I don't think it's very cool!_

"Stand back!" Donny told everyone. He walked forward and placed the crystal in a slot in the wall. "Come on, come on!" he said."Never mind."

Alex took out her manriki chain and got ready to fight. This was going to be _fun_. She just hoped she didn't get as knocked around as much as she did before. That had hurt. She was about to lung forward when she heard Donatello call out again. She turned around to see what he was so worked up about.

"It worked!" he called out from the doorway. "Huh?"

A strange blue light thing came flying out of the tunnel and over to Donny. It surrounded him and he disappeared. Alex couple help but freak out. There was no possible way that that could have happened. People didn't just disappear! Did they? It wasn't realistic! It wasn't scientifically possible!

"Donny!" Alex yelled as she ran over to the area he had been. "Don!" She couldn't find him anywhere! "Donatello! This isn't funny! Where are you?"

"He's gone," Mikey said in disbelief. "And in a couple of minutes we'll be goners too."

The six monsters walked into the part of the cave they were in. The loud roars seemed to ring in Alex's ears, but that hardly got her attention. She was too focused on the tunnel where Donny had disappeared. She couldn't lose another person in her life. No, not Donny. She couldn't let what happened to her and her brothers happen to the guys. She wouldn't let it.

"And here it ends," Quarry said.

_No_, Alex though. _This can't be the end. Can it?_


	13. Notes from Underground Part 3

**Okay, next chapter! Please review! Thank's to kaaayyytteee for your message! Did you mean Erik and Fred too when you said that or was it just for the turtles?  
>I hope you guy like this. It's not the best. But I hope you enjoy!<br>~Northie**

Chapter 13  
>"Notes from Underground"<br>Part 3

"Donny! No, no! Donny!" Raph yelled running over to the tunnel beside Alex. He stood there looking around like she had been for the missing turtle. "Donny!"

"Raph, get away from there," Leo told Raph.

Usually Alex would have thought _Oh, so I shouldn't be getting away from the tunnel? Thanks Leo. That makes me feel loved, _but she was too preoccupied with looking around for Donny to think anything like that. She was just frantic. _No_, she did think. _I can't lose them too. Not the guys. Not _my_ guys. Not _my_ teenage mutant ninja turtles_. This couldn't be happening to her again. She wouldn't allow it.

But it was and she didn't know what to do about it.

"Huh?" Raph said, getting Alex's attention. He tackled her to the ground as another one of those blue light things came shooting out at them. "Whoa."

It ended up getting the spider monster. They were lucky it hadn't hit anyone from on their side. What would they do them? They already lost Donny. They couldn't lose another member of their team. Another person of the _family_. That could include the monsters with them too. They were a part of the team too.

Another light came out of the tunnel, missing Alex and Raph completely, but went over to Raserfist and another monster. It got both of them and they were gone. Alex just looked wide eyes at Raph, who looked back at her with the same expression. Neither of them had any idea of what was going on. They both wanted it to stop though.

"Raserfist!" Leo yelled.

"Leo, what the shell is going on?" Mikey asked in disbelief like the rest of them.

Another light came out and went over to Stonebighter and another monster that was fighting with him and took Stonebighter. Where was the light coming from? Why was it taking them? _How_ was it taking them? Nothing was making any sense. Alex's head hurt.

"Stonebighter, no!" Raph yelled.

"Come on you ugly troll!" Mikey yelled. He had his nun chuck out finally and was ready to fight after acting like a chicken the whole time they had been there. "Show me what you've got!" The large red monster walked forward and roared. "Okay, I'm impressed." Another monster walked up next to the other and also added in a roar. "Okay, now what?"

"Come on," Leo said. "Whatever's through with door can't be worse than this."

"I hope those don't become famous last words, Leo," Mikey said.

"Don't jinx it, Mikey," Alex scolded, finally being able to say something other than Donny. Quarry ran in after them and Leo stood outside getting ready to grab the crystal. "Come on, Leo!" Alex yelled, making sure he would follow them in.

He did and the door shut behind him, locking the monsters out on the other side. They could still hear them trying to get in, but it seemed safe enough. At least the monsters were gone. Now they just had to worry about the light and getting Donny, Stonebighter and Raserfist back. Why can't any of this ever be easy?

"Be ready for anything," Leo told them as they started to walk to the other side of the tunnel. The light side. It almost looked like it was daylight. What the heck was going on down there?

Inside a pool of magma was a large place that looked like a city with towering walls. How it was possible to be there? How it got there? Alex hadn't the slightest. She wanted to know though. She got sad by that though. Donny would have wanted to know too. _Donny, where are you?_

"We shouldn't be here," Quarry said, scared out of his mind. "This is, this is a acropolis. A city of the dead."

"You know," Mikey started in. "If there is one thing that creeps me out more than monster movies, it's a city of the dead."

"We're not leaving," Leo scolded. "Whatever is haunting with place made the mistake of snatching one of ours."

"And we'll level this whole city just to get him back," Raph said.

"You've got that right," she muttered.

"Hey guys," Leo said a distance away. "I found a way down there."

"Don't you always," Mikey murmured.

Alex smacked him on the back of the head as she passed him by. How could he even think about leaving without Donny? It was unthinkable. She wanted to push him off the side of the cliff for even thinking about it. She was going to do anything and everything she possibly could to get him back.

They rounded the corner to see a large shuttle on a long, thick cable that went all the way over to the "City of the Dead." It looked old and it was unknown how safe the craft was, but Alex was willing to get on it. If it meant being able to save Donny, she'd do it.

"Maybe we better find us a different ride," Raph suggested.

"What are you talking about? It's fine," Leo said, kicking it to prove his point. It made a loud rattling noise and shifted a little, but it didn't fall. "Okay, maybe not so fine."

The guys wouldn't get on it so Leo slowly walked onto it for his point. "Look, see."

Alex followed him on in a casual manor and walked up to the other side, where the window was.

"Leo, Alex, don't, "Raph warned.

"There is no way I'm getting in that thing," Mikey said.

"It'll hold up," Leo pushed. "And it looks like our crystal will power it."

More loud roars could be heard coming from around the corner where they had been earlier. A couple monsters came charging around the corner at the three outside the shuttle. Needless to say they all ran into the shuttle and thought it was safe enough then.

"What are you waiting for?" Raph yelled.

"Go, go, go!" Mikey also shouted.

Leo put the crystal in and the door shut before the monsters had a chance to get to them. The shuttle started to move on the line over to the mysterious city. Just when they all thought they were out of the clear, the whole thing started to shake from the monsters jumping the distance onto the top of the shuttle.

A claw went through the top and nearly went through Alex's head. She screamed and fell to the ground. She quickly crawled over to Leo and grabbed the control panel to steady herself enough to stand up. She still almost fell over, but it was better than having nothing to hold onto while the creatures pounded on the top. Then they disappear. Just like that, they were gone.

A loud snap could be heard throughout the whole place. It seemed like it was all going in slow motion. The shuttle started to fall at a rapid rate and if they didn't get out they would all die in the magma. There would be no saving Donny or Stonebighter or Raserfist. They wouldn't have a chance of anything.

"Jump now!" Leo yelled.

_Is he mad? _she thought_. There's nothing there. we're be jumping to our deaths instead of falling to them. What is he thinking?_

I must have been obvious that Alex was scared and confused because when they had to jump, Leo grabbed a hold of Alex and held onto her tight as he pulled her out of the shuttle with him. He let go when she did and they all landed on their feet on the ground. What were the chances? This just didn't seem real.

A loud crack could be heard from the large rock by Quarry. It started to fall and Quarry didn't have enough time to get out of the way. It landed right on top of him. Alex screamed for what seemed like the millionth time on that mission. She hid her face in Leo's shoulder as he cried out, "Quarry!

Leo wrapped his arm around Alex's back and pulled her over to the debris. Alex couldn't take any more of it. First Donny, Raserfist, Stonebighter and now Quarry? She couldn't take any more death and missing people. No, not at all. It all started with her parent, her brothers and now the guys? Maybe it was her that brought this upon everyone. Maybe she was the bad luck. Everything she loved got destroyed.

Quarry suddenly came out of an acid hole in the rock that he had created and jumped down to the ground in front of them all. He dusted himself off and looked at the shocked faces before him. He shrugged and said, "We are designed to handle such adversity."

Alex took in a deep, unsteady breath to try and get a hold of herself. She looked at Leo and gave him a small smile before softly saying, "Thanks. I didn't mean to cling."

"Don't worry about it," he said with a warm smile. "This isn't easy."

"Come on," she said. "We have to keep looking."

They made their way carefully to the city. he walls were huge and the place reminded Alex of a sifi movie. Not that that whole situation didn't, but when she was up close to the place it just seemed to hit her. Especially will all the weird markings on the place.

"Those symbols again," Leo said. "Just like back at our place."

"And by the looks of it all this place had been here a long time," Raph added.

"Creepy," Mikey said.

"You can say that again," Alex muttered. "Not literally, Mikey."

"Hey," he defended. "I wasn't going to say anything."

"Hey guys," Leo called. "I found some transportation."

"Of course," Mikey said.

The transportation he was talking about were things that looked like scooters. They had no wheels and were powered by, of course, the crystals. They floated in mid air. Needless to say they were really cool and Alex wanted to take one home with her. After she got the others back, that is.

Alex had to ride with Raph. Mikey had to share with Quarry and Leo had his own craft. They rode around for a little bit looking around the place. They wanted to see if they could find anything. Maybe there was a sign of Donny somewhere that would lead them to him.

"Whoever built this place, they're definitely the same people who built our Lair," Leo said.

"Whatever," Raph said. "Let's just focus on finding Donny. We can go sightseeing later."

"Hold up," Leo said. They all slowed to a stop and listened to what Leo was saying. "I think I saw something." Leo sped ahead before they could get a chance to really ask him anything about it.

"Leo, wait up!" Mikey called out. They stopped outside the tunnel Leo went in a peaked inside, not daring to go inside. "Leo?"

"I'm going in," Raph said. He jumped off before Alex had the chance to grab him and stop him. Before he ran in, a bright light flashed in an all too familiar way.

"Leo!" Alex yelled, jumping off the scooter and into the tunnel with Raph and Mikey. Nothing was there. Only the scooter he had been using. "No," she said in disbelief. "Leo. Not you too."

"Leo, Leo!" Raph yelled.

"Calling out like that probably isn't the best idea," Mikey said. "He's gone. Just like the others."

Mikey and Raph walked out of the tunnel while Alex went to pick up the scooter. She picked it up with a huff. The thing was heavier than she thought it was. She was about to start it up and head out with the others when she heard a shuffle coming from the other direction. Coming from deeper in the tunnel.

She knew it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but she couldn't help it. She gulped. Took in a deep breath and stepped off the scooter. She took a couple steps forward before she saw the blue light coming towards her. She didn't even have enough time to scream before the light got to her and took her.

The last thing she remembered seeing after reappearing was the creatures around her. They were all frozen stiff. Most of them had terrified expressions on their faces. Then, a large dome grew above her head and liquid starting to fill the container. She tried to break open the container, but it was soon filled completely and she couldn't breathe. It started to freeze around her and then it all stopped.

o-0-o

The doorbell rang of the O'Neil apartment in their building. Mr. O'Neil got up from the couch next to his wife to get the door. Alex was sitting on the other side of her mother holding the bowl of popcorn. He mother kept taking some from her and they started to have a little food fight while they waited for Mr. O'Neil to come back.

Marcus, Nathan and Zack were all sitting in front of the DVD case fighting over what movie it was they were going to be watching that nice. It was their family movie night, after all. The guys always fought over what movie to watch. In the end, Mrs. O'Neil would always pick the movie and all would be well.

A loud noise could be heard from the front door that made all of the other people jump. Mrs. O'Neil got up a little worried and told her children to stay where they were while she went to go see who was at the door with her husband. Moments after she left her blood curdling scream could be heard. That really got them all scared.

The triples quickly got up from the floor and over to where their weapons were and passed them out. They didn't know what was ahead of them, but they wanted to be prepared. Just after they got their weapons, strange ninja ran into the room and started to attack the group. They managed to fend them off, but as they were trying to make their way out, they saw their parents dead bodies on the ground and more ninjas coming into the apartment.

Nathan took Alex and pushed her into the little safe room they had without letting her protest. The last thing she saw before the door shut was her brothers fighting the ninja for their lives and their sisters.

Alex didn't know how long she was in there, but it seemed like forever. Now knowing what was going on behind the door was torture for the girl. She could no longer hear any noise on the other side of the door and decided it was about time to get out of there. She had no idea what would find.

When she got out, the only thing that was there were the dead bodies of her parents. Most of the things in the apartment were ruined and blood seemed to stain everything. There was one thing missing though. Her brothers. She looked everywhere for them and she couldn't find them. After that, she lost it. She broke down over her parents bodies and cried until the police came.

o-0-o

"Alex?" a voice asked. "Alex, can you hear me?"

Alex moaned as she opened her eyes to see Donny standing above her. "Donny?" she asked hoarsely. "Donny? Is that really you?"

"I hope so," he joked.

"Donny!" she yelled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a very tight hug. She was happy beyond belief. She thought she would never see him again. "I'm so happy to see you! I thought you were gone forever."

"You can't keep me away forever," he said. "Come on. Let's get out of here. We just finished getting everyone out."

After being told everything that had happened with the strange lonely man who had lived in the once lively civilization, Alex made her way out of the tunnel with her friends and the once monsters. They had been changed back to normal and were human once more. Turns out, Quarry was actually a girl. Who knew?

"Oh no," a girl yelled. "It can't be."

The turtles and Alex ran up ahead to see what was going on. The man who was Stonebighter was changing back to the monster. They quickly pulled him back into the tunnel and he started to chance back to human.

"He reverted back just as he stepped out of the cavern," the now human Quarry said. "Why?"

They made their way back to the city and Donny started to explain. "There," he said. "I think that's the cause. Remember, he said it provides regenerative energy. Stray too far from it and it seems the affects reverse themselves."

"Then," Quarry said. "We can't leave his city? I don't believe it. He got what he wanted after all."

"We'll figure this all out," Leo said. "Don's pretty good-"

"No," she interrupted. "We can't let you stay. Who knows how long it'll take."

"But just taking off is not our style," Mikey said.

"Please," she said. "You have your own lives to get back to. Believe me, if the solution is here we'll find it."

"I'll keep studying the crystals," Donny said. "We can beat this."

"I'll make sure to help too," Alex said.

"Then we'll be back," Leo said.

"That's a promise," Raph added.

"Thank you," she replied.

o-0-o

It took hours to get back all the way up to the surface. Alex had gone up to the street and back to April's apartment to see she had just enough time to shower and get changed for the movie with Fred and the others. She most likely would fall asleep during the movie, but she didn't care. She was going out with them no matter what.

The movie was rather boring and Alex did fall asleep during most of it, but Fred just joked around about it afterwards with the others. Amanda was the only one who didn't seem pleased she was getting along with them again. Fred dropped her off at April's place and said he was going to see her at school on Monday.

When she got back home she saw the guys on the living room floor fast asleep. She just shook her head and went to her room. She'd ask them in the morning. She just wanted to sleep now.


	14. Shredder Strikes Back Part 1

**This one may or may not be a little confusing, but you should be cleared up a lot more at that end of the chapter. If there are any questions about anything then please don't be afraid to message and ask. I still need some people to tell me what they think about the relationship thing I mentioned in the last chapter (I think otherwise it was the one before). Thanks you kaaayyytteee for messaging me. You're the best!**

Chapter 14  
>"Shredder Strikes Back"<br>Part 1

Alex rolled over in her bed with a slight groan when the light hit her eyes. She sat up to go and close the blinds when she was nearly scared to death by the other figure in the room standing above her. She could tell who it was the moment she saw them, but she couldn't help but jump. So, she wasn't the most awake person in the morning. Sue her.

"You scared the crap out of me," she said as she pulled the blanket around her more. "What the heck are you doing here, Zack? And what the heck are you wearing?"

The outfit he was wearing was different from the usual one he usually wore. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and black pants to match. His boats had built in guards. On his head, instead of the usual Foot mast, he had a rice planters hat and a red scarf wrapped around his mouth and noise so all you could see were his eyes. For some reason, they were glowing red and that scared Alex.

"Zack?" she asked cautiously. She reached out to touch his arm to see if she could get him to stop staring at her like he was. It was cold and heartless. It didn't seem like Zack at all. "Are you okay?"

When she touched his arm he jumped back and held his head like it was throbbing. He pinched his eyes shut and was trying not to scream. Why? Alex wished she knew. She couldn't stand to see her brother in pain like that. If there was anything she could do to stop it she could.

"Zack?" she asked as she got up and quickly walked over to him. "What's wrong? Talk to me."

"He wants you," he managed to get out.

Alex was confused to say the least. "What?"

"He wants you, Alex. _You_," he said rushed.

"Who wants me?" she pushed.

"He wants them gone," he said, redirecting the direction of the conversation. "You're little green friends. He wants them gone. He wants us to do it."

"The guys? Who wants them gone, Zack?" she said sternly.

Zack opened his eyes again and his arms fell to his sides. His eyes were once again red. They were cold and lifeless. They weren't him eyes. Alex didn't know who's they were, but this wasn't her brother Zack. Who didn't know who the man with red eyes was, but she wanted him out of her room and her brother back.

Alex looked at the glass of water on the table beside her bed. She picked it up and splashed it on Zack's head. Hey, it was worth a shot. Zack shook his head and looked shocked for a minute, but the red eyes are gone. It was Zack again, but Alex didn't know how long this time it would last.

"Why are you here, Zack?" she asked.

"He wanted us to come and take you," another voice said from the open window.

_I don't remember leaving that open last night, _Alex thought. She mentally shook her head to get herself back on track. "Who wanted you to take me? Who wants the guys gone?" she asked Nathan as he also entered Alex room. He, like Zack was wearing a different outfit. It looked exactly the same as Zack's.

"He does," Nathan said, not really answering her question.

"_Who_ does?" She was getting a little annoyed with all the mysteriousness. She wanted answers one way or another. Maybe she needed to splash Nathan with water too…

"We need to leave," Nathan told Zack. "You've risked enough by coming here in the first place."

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked grabbing Nathan's arm, preventing him from leaving the room. "Risked what? Who have you been talking about? What's going on? Why do your eyes keep turning red? I need answers."

"You're a smart girl," one last voice said from the fire escape outside Alex's window. "You should know."

"Marcus," Alex said. "What the heck is going on?"

"You need to get out of here," Marcus said to Alex. "It's not safe. April should be fine. They don't want her. They want you."

"Who wants me?" she asked like a little kid.

"Go," Marcus told Zack and Nathan. They both glanced at one another knowingly and then at their sister one last time before leaving without a single good-bye. "Alex," he started to say. but she cut him off.

"What the heck is going on?" she asked angrily. "I need answers. You can't just pop up here whenever you want and say someone is looking for you. Someone wants your best friends dead and all that crap. What is happening?"

"There are too many things that should be said but can't," he said. "He'd know. He won't be please we didn't bring you back ourselves."

"Who?" she pushed again.

"He said if we did what he wanted he'd leave you alone to live a normal life," he said. It looked as if he was going to cry. That was very unusual for Marcus. He was usually the toughest one of them all. "You can't trust anything about him, Alex."

"Who the heck can't I trust?"

"You can't," he said. It really looked like he wanted to tell her, but for some reason he wouldn't. "You should forget about the turtles. Forget about us. Forget about everything. You're better off thinking we're dead."

"I am not going back to that," she scolded. "I'm not going back in that dark hole, Marcus. I'm not giving up on you! You of all people should know that. I'll get you three back one way or another. Even if it's the last thing I do."

"Don't say that," he said getting angry himself. He grabbed her arms and shook her a little to try and get her to stop saying and thinking that. "I'm not going to be able to talk any sense into you, am I?"

"Nope," she said smiling.

"We love you," he said. "You know that, right?"

"Of course," she said. "I love you too."

"That's why saying this hurts so much," he said. "You can't trust us anymore. We're not _good_. He's done something to us. I don't know what, but we can't help it. We hurt people, Alex. We don't want to hurt you, but if he tells us to, I don't know if we can resist."

"What are you talking about?" she said very confused. "Who did what to you?"

"He wants us to kill the turtles," he said. "And we have to do it."

Alex took a step back and looked at her brother with confused filled eyes. "What are you talking about? You can't hurt them."

"We can and we are," he said. "That's why you need to get out of here now. Something big is going to happen and we can't do anything about it. Warn them, if you must, but whatever you do don't stick around. You need to leave. He's looking for you and he won't stop until he finds you.

"Okay," she said. "Let's pretend I know who the heck you're talking about for a minute, which I don't and say I'm not going anywhere. What would happen and why does this person what with me? What did I ever do?"

"Bad things," he said simply. "And believe it or not, you're the strongest fighter he has seen in a long time. He wants that. He wants you. You keep getting stronger and he'll keep looking."

"Then I'll keep fighting," she said. "_Whoever_ the heck _he_ is." She grabbed Marcus and pulled him into a hug and wouldn't let him go. "I'll fight for you. I'll fight for Nathan and Zack and the guys and April. I'll fight for whoever needs my help, but I can't do that if I'm gone. I'm not leaving my family, Marcus. I'm not leaving you or the guys."

He pulled back and walked over to the window. He started to get out, but turned and continued to talk. "That's what I thought would happen." He took in a deep breath and added, "We can no longer help you, Alex. We're just as bad as he is. You're better off associating us with him."

"I'll never do that," she said. Of course, she had no idea who he was talking about so she really could say, but it was her big brother. What else was she going to say? "I'm not going to give up on you. I'll always be here fighting to get you back."

"That's what scares me," he said before leaving her completely.

Alex stood there in front of her window for a couple minutes just looking outside. She knew she wouldn't be able to see anything. The guys were gone and that was that. But what was it they were trying to tell her? Why were they warning her about somebody they wouldn't name? It wasn't making any sense in her head.

She shook her head, changed her clothes and walked out into the kitchen to get something to eat. "And I thought my head hurt from the crystals," she muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Donny asked as Alex walked by him.

"Nothing," she replied. "I was talking to myself."

"Okay," he said. "Are you sure because you look a little shaken up."

"Yeah," Raph said. "You're really pale."

"Don't worry about it," she told them.

_He wants them gone._ Alex froze half way reaching for an apple when Zack's voice rang in her head. _If whoever wanted them gone wanted my brothers to do it then why didn't they do it while they were here?_ Alex asked herself. _Maybe they wanted to give time for me to warn them. But why would they do that if they wanted me out of the way so I wouldn't get hurt? They know I'd do anything to protect them. _

"Alex," April said. "Are you sure your alright?"

"Yeah, why?" she lied looking over at her aunt. She had only come out of her room a couple minutes before. She was still wearing her bath robe and her hair was down.

"Because you froze picking up an apple," she replied.

Alex looked down at her hand and quickly picked up an apple. "I couldn't chose which one I wanted."

"Hey," April said. "What's burning?"

"Mikey's cooking," Raph said turning the page of the book he was reading. Alex was shocked he was actually reading a book. He didn't seem the type to read.

"Hey, scrambled is okay with everybody, right?" he called out.

"Again?" everybody complained.

"Hey guys," Mikey called out again. "Where's Leo?"

Alex dropped her apple on the floor as she scanned the room. Leo was in fact no there at all. How could she have missed that? Where was he? Was he okay? Was he safe? Now her head was really starting to bother her.

"He is engaged in his morning excursive," Master Splinter said.

"If he doesn't get back soon he's gonna get soaked," Donny said, looking out the window at the sky. "That sky's looking angry."

_No_, Alex thought. _This can't be happening. He's fine. He's just out for a morning run and will be back soon. He's the strongest of the guys. He can take care of himself. I shouldn't be sweating over it. But then why am I?_

Alex stood by the window looking out for Leo coming back. The rest of the people in the apartment were just sitting down to eat breakfast. She had lost her apatite when she heard Leo was gone and she knew she wasn't going to get it back until she knew he was safe back at the apartment.

"Shouldn't Leo have been back by now?" Mikey asked.

_You're not helping Mikey, _Alex thought.

"Hey, of the four of us," Donny stated to say. "Leo's the one turtle you never have to worry about."

"Then why do I have this really bad feeling," Alex said out loud before she actually thought about what she had said.

"Is that why you're acting weird," Mikey asked. "Uh, weirder."

Usually she would have scolded him or laughed, but she couldn't find it in her to do so. "Maybe," she just muttered to herself.

"Leo must be nuts to be out in this weather," Donny said after breakfast was over and he and Raph were washing the dishes.

"Ah, you know Leo and his training," Raph said. "Nothing stops him."

"I hope that's all it is," Alex said still looking out the window. She didn't know how long she was standing there, but she was going to until somebody forced her to move or Leo came back.

"May I have your attention please," Mikey announced to the people around him. Alex reluctantly tore her eyes off the window and to Mikey. He just let out a massive belch. She could have usually laughed, but she, once again, wasn't in the mood.

"That's it," Raph said. "I'm going to look for Leo so we can get this show of the road. No offense April, Alex, but we really need to get back to our Lair. I'm going stir crazy."

"You are going nowhere until your brother returns," Master Splinter scolded. "Sit."

"Man, what a jip," Raph said. "We got to sit around on our butts while Leo's out there having all the fun."

"I don't think he's having fun," Alex said.

"What do you mean?" Donny asked.

"I have a really bad feeling something's about to happen," she said not taking her eyes off the window.

"Are you feeling alright?" Donny asked. He placed a hand on Alex's forehead to take her temperature. "You're running a slight fever."

"I am?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. He took her hand and pulled her over to the couch. "Why don't you watch the football game with us and relax?"

She sat down like he suggested, but never once looked at the television. The guys were starting to worry. Something was the matter with Alex. They could tell. She wasn't telling them something and that concerned them. What if it involved Leo? If they only knew. After that they started to get a little nervous too.

"Hey guys," Mikey said. "I'm really starting to get worried. Leo should have checked in by now."

"I know this is a first, but I'm thinking Mikey's right," Donny said. "Maybe what Alex is feeling actually means something."

"Master Splinter?" Raph asked.

"Go," he replied.

"Gees," Mikey said as they all started to go to looked. "What if something really happened to him?"

Alex turned her head and instantly ran to the window. She had learned that her hearing was much better than the guys and she could hear Leo's yells coming from outside the window. She got there just in time to catch him as he fell through the window. It was rather painful. She had gotten cut by a lot of the glass, but she got Leo. That was all that mattered.

"Leo!" Donny said.

"Leo, what happened?" Raph asked. "Who did this to you?"

He just laid there in Alex lap trying to stay awake. She gently held him as if he would break if she held him too tight. She was scared. She knew who had done it. She didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't deny the facts that were right in front of her face. She had been warned and she didn't do anything to stop it.

_I'm a horrible, horrible person, _she thought as tear started to well up in her eyes_. How could I let this happen to you, Leo? What kind of monster am I? I could have stopped this. Why didn't I do something?_

"I'm going to find out who did this," Raph said, about to jump out of the window.

_No! Alex thought. If Raph gets his hands on the guys they're done of. Not that I wouldn't do the same to them the next time I see them, but Raph doesn't even know they're my brothers. None of them know about my brothers being taken by the Foot and having to work for them. I thought it would have been better to not tell them and now look what happened. _

"No," Leo managed to get out. "Raph wait." Raph instantly stopped and walked back over to Leo. "He's back. The Shredder."

_Oh_, Alex thought_. That makes a little more sense. That's why my brothers didn't come home. That's why they Foot were in the sewers looking for the guys. That's why they came to warn me. They were warning me about the Shredder. He was back and I didn't catch on. If I had gotten that little clue then maybe I could have just stopped it and I could have just_...

She let out a sob as Leo fell unconscious in her arms.


	15. Shredder Strikes Back Part 2

**Thanks kaaayyytteee and Jess for messaging me! You guys are the best! Here is chapter 15! I'll try and get the next one out as soon as I can. And remember, PLEASE MESSAGE ME ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS! I've only gotten one message telling me who they wanted...(Thanks kaaayyytteee!) Please, just send a simple message is all...all you have to do is put the name of the person(s) that you want! PLEASE! It would mean a lot...now I sound kind of pathetic...I'll stop now, sorry. Continue on!**

Chapter 15  
>"Shredder Strikes Back"<br>Part 2

Alex didn't want to believe what she was hearing, but there was no way for her to deny the fact that it was all true. Leo was living, almost non-living proof that it was really happening. The Shredder was back and had sent his ninja, which included Alex's brothers, Marcus, Nathan and Zack, to take out the turtles and to bring her back with them. They were all in grave danger and there was a large possibility that they wouldn't make it. Leo, again, even though he was still hanging on, was proof of that.

"What?" April asked in disbelief. "What did he just say?"

"He said the Shredder's back," Mikey repeated.

"No way!" Raph persistently pushed. "We were all there. We all saw what happened that night on the roof."

Actually, Alex hadn't been there that night. She had been taken prisoner by the Shredder, held prisoner, tortured and broken out by her brother Zack. The night it all happened was the night she had been broken out. It had been only hours before it all went down. She wished she had been there with them, then she wouldn't have been in the pain she had been put through. It was all because of the milk, too. At least she got her sword back from it all.

"There's no way any human could've survived that," Donny said.

"We're not dealing with _any_ human," Raph said. "This is the Shredder."

"He has a point," Alex said, whipping away at her eyes. She was trying not to let the guys see her break, but it wasn't working very well. She moved and tried not to move Leo. She didn't want to cause him anymore discomfort than he was already in.

"If you read comic books, you'd know," Mikey said, getting up and walking over to look out the window. "The bad guy always comes back. Always!"

"We need to get Leo out of here," April said.

"She is right. We must leave now," Master Splinter said.

"Guys," Mikey said, still over by the window. His attention was on something outside. "We've got company." They all could see Foot ninja popping up on the rooftops around the apartment building. "What's the plan? Leo's always the one with a plan. So, what are we going to do without Leo to come up with a plan?"

"No time for a plan," Raph said with his sai out.

"Why not?" Mikey asked.

At that instant, Foot ninja broke through the windows and into the living room of the apartment. There were two of them. Raph started to back up to protect the others who were all in the middle of the room with Leo while Mikey jumped over to the couch and pushed it over so it blocked Leo, April, Master Splinter and Alex from the incoming ninja glass that they brought with them when they broke through the windows.

"Master Splinter," Donny said. "Grab Leo. We'll cover you."

Donny got up to join in on the defense. While April and Master Splinter tried to get Leo away, Alex quickly ran to her room, grabbed her suit, put it on, and grabbed her weapons. It only took her a minute or so. She had to do something to help out. She couldn't just sit there. This was partially her fault, or at least she was thinking that. There was no way she could have done anything to change the events that were to come even if she told them about what her brothers told her. She hadn't known what they had been telling her in the first place.

When Alex was about to leave her room, a ninja broke through her window and blocked her way out. He held his sword out in front of her as if to treatin her. Was he trying to intimidate her? Her brothers did say the Shredder did know she was the best, so wouldn't his ninja? Did he think he was stronger than her?

Alex growled and also pulled out her sword. She wasn't in the mood and didn't have time for this! She had to help get Leo out of there! She had to get her family out of harm's way! This guys was standing in her way and she wasn't going to let him. Nothing came in-between her and her family. Nobody!

She charged at the guy in front of her and their swords met. Without letting the guy get in another move, she lifted her leg and kicked him in the stomach while they were still pushing for dominance with their swords. He fell backwards, but quickly got back to his feet and jumped at her.

Alex met him half way and their swords collided again. She managed to turn slightly so that she could slide one of her feet between his and kick the guys feet out from under him. He tripped and, once again, fell to the ground. She hit him on the chest knocking the wind out of him. Alex had to wonder if he liked it down there because he had been down there a lot already and would continue taking trips there if he did let her go and help out the guys.

As she turned to walk back out of the room she quickly looked out the window to see if she could spot anymore Foot out there. Of course there were. They were everywhere. Alex couldn't believe how many guys there were. How was it possible to have that many henchmen? How could you afford to pay that many people to fight for you and break the law? You had to be one rich, sick dude.

While Alex's attention was focused on the ninja outside waiting to get in, the ninja who she had just tripped kicked her in the back sending her flying forward, through her bedroom door (Yes, the whole door.) and into the living room. She groaned and mentally slapped herself for not being more on guard. Of course that one blow wouldn't put the guy out for the count. She had just been too concerned about everything else that she seemed to let that slip.

_This is so troublesome_, Alex thought as she started to jump back up to her feet. Before she had a chance to lunge forward, somebody grabbed her by the collar. She started to swing her elbow back to hit the person who grabbed her, but instantly stopped when she saw who it was. It was Raph in the doorway going down to the store.

"Sorry," she said with a small smile on her face. "I thought you were someone else."

"No time to talk," he replied as he pushed her over to the stair where the others were. "Time to go!"

"Wrong way, Mikey!" Donny harshly whispered.

"Wrong way my foot," he said. Alex giggled. Her mood for some reason was getting a little better. She didn't know why. The situation wasn't any different. They were still being attacked and all, but maybe that was why she could see the humor in what he said. She had to find something to laugh about or she may hyperventilate . It was better laughing than not being able to breathe. "Poor choice of words. Major ambush down there."

"We don't have a choice. They're pouring in through the windows upstairs," Donny replied.

"Hey, what's the story down there?" Raph asked as he fought back the Foot from getting into the stairway.

"There are some seriously mean looking guys down there," Mikey called back.

"Mean looking? Duh!" Donny said, pushing his way past Mikey.

"Don, wait!" Mikey said, following close behind. Alex made sure April had a hold of Leo before running past them over to Mikey and Don.

Donny opened the door and jumped in with his staff. Alex stood watching him from the doorway with Mikey as Donny looked around for these 'seriously mean looking guys.' Alex saw them before her did. She couldn't help but let out a gasp when she saw that they were her brothers and another guy she didn't know. Mikey looked at her for a minute strangely before turning his attention back to Donny.

"Nice hats," she heard Donny said. Alex giggled. They were kind of cool.

The unknown guy threw his two sided axe at Donny, but he jumped back. However, it went flying back like a boomerang and Donny fell backwards onto the ground against the wall. Marcus then threw his spear at him and almost got him right through the head. He missed though and it stuck in the wall.

"Marcus!" Alex scolded without thinking about what she was doing. Mikey looked at her strangely. She just tried to ignore it and hoped he would just forget.

Donny moved and stuck his head out the doorway to the stairs to yell, "Raphy, we've got trouble down here."

"Like I don't have trouble up here?" he asked rhetorically.

Alex moved into the room with her sword at her side. Donatello and Michelangelo were right beside her, but they were more prepared for battle than she was. Alex didn't want to have to fight them. They were her brothers. How could she do that? That would be like kicking the family dog. She couldn't do it.

"The Shredder's Elite Guard," Splinter said from behind them. "They are the deadliest of his warriors. Lethal assassins." Splinter ran out of the room after hearing April tell him something.

A moment later Raph came running in. He stopped and looked at the Elite before him. "Whoa, nice hats."

"Yeah, we thought so too," Mikey said.

"Say what you will about the Foot," Donny said. "But they do not skip on the head gear."

"They look better without them," Alex muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raph asked.

"Never mind," she murmured.

He shook his head before saying, "So, are we going to do this or what?"

Raph, Donny and Mikey charged into battle Alex just stood there. What could she do? She couldn't just give up her brothers and fight with the guys, yet she couldn't just let the guys go and get themselves beat to a pulp. Her head was throbbing, her eyes were starting to water and she just wanted to scream out. This was so frustrating!

Nathan charged at Alex first. He tried to get her with his strange double sided sword, but Alex was faster than he was. She dodged his kicks, his punches and his swings. She had saw opportunities to attack, but didn't. She just let her sword rest at her side in her hand. Every once in a while she would use it to protect herself by blocking, but other than that she didn't use it.

"Nathan!" she yelled at him. He just looked at her with his red eyes and continued to attack. This wasn't him. She didn't know who it was. It was just like before when he was in her room. Something was up. "You have to stop!" He swung and almost got her. She ducked down. "Nathan!"

Alex managed to jump away from him and his attention was turned to Raph instead. Marcus took his turn at his sister. Just like her other two brothers, Marcus had red, cold eyes. He towered over his sister as he started to back her up in a corner. She looked at him with confused eyes. What was he doing? Didn't he just warn her about this? He didn't want to hurt her, that's why he told her in the first place. What was he doing this for then?

"Marcus?" she said like a little girl. She sounded like a little scared girl who had woken up from a nightmare. This was a nightmare, though and she wasn't a little girl. "Marcus?"

"You're coming with us," he said in a deep, not-Marcus voice.

"Marcus no," she said shaking her head animatedly. "You have to stop. All this fighting must stop."

"Stop resisting," he said again.

"No," she replied more like a plead. He charged forward and Alex didn't have enough time to dodge his incoming spear. Alex's eyes widen. She gasped as Marcus pulled back. He looked down at her as she managed to get out, "Marcus?" He then disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

A very large cloud of smoke appeared by the front door of the store. The four Elites stood there and seemed to be waiting for something. The door suddenly opened and in walked a large figure. He was in a metal samurai suit with claws on his hands. All you could see were his red eyes through his helmet.

"No," Alex gasp.

"Oh crud," Raph said.

"It's really him," Mikey said. "Like Leo said."

"You freaks have been a thorn in my side long enough," the Shredder said in a voice similar to Marcus's. Master Splinter jumped in front of the turtles in-between them and the Shredder. "No one opposes the Shredder. And now I will have my revenge for our last encounter. Say farewell to each other while you still can." He turned his head to Alex and watched her slowly stand up. "It is about time you have joined me. Why don't you come willingly."

"No," she said shaking her head. "I don't know what you've done to them, but I'll find a way to get them back."

"Oh yeah Mr. Spikeypants?" Mikey said. "Well, you're the one who should be saying farewell to, uh, to yourself."

"Oh yeah Mikey," Raph said. "That got him."

"Hey, I'm under a lot of pressure here."

"Silence!" Shredder yelled.

"This attack is nothing but a cowardly gambit. Wearing us down by sheer numbers. It is not the way of the true warrior."

"Guys," Raph said. "I say we shred his butt once and for all. For Leo! You with me?"

"Till the end," Donny said.

"Which hopefully isn't going to be anytime soon," Mikey said. "Right?"

Alex didn't know how useful she'd be in the state she was in. After the Elite attacked Donny and sent him flying backwards into a pole but April and Leo, Alex made her way over to them. She pulled out her sword and stood in front of them for protection. She'd stop anyone from getting to Leo and April even if that meant her life. That might have just been the case.

The Elite's started to make their way over to Alex, April and Leo while the other guys were on the ground. Nathan raised his weapon and was about to strike Raph when something broke through the front window and stopped him. It was Casey on his motorcycle. He rammed them down like they were nothing. Nathan was the only one who didn't get thrown out of the window.

Casey ended up getting Nathan thrown into a cabinet. It fell over on him and Alex couldn't help but scream out, "Nathan!"

"Now that's what I call crashing a party," Casey said.

"You almost killed him!" Alex continued to yell.

"Casey!" Raph yelled happily.

"Though I've never seen a lamer party than this! Where's the band?" He hit two more of the Elite's out of the way and continued to walk over to the guys. "You okay, babe?" he asked April.

"Don't call me babe," she warned him.

Everyone's attention was turned to Shredder. Alex lost her footing and fell back onto the ground almost falling on Leo. He looked at her confused and pained for a minute before noticing what was really wrong. "Alex?" he asked her.

"Hi Leo," she said smiling, but the pain was very visible in her smile and voice. "Don't worry. I've got your back."

April wasn't paying attention to the two. She had her sights on Casey. So she didn't hear what Leo managed to say next. "Your brothers," was all he could get out.

She just smiled and tried to stand up. "We'll talk about it late when your all better."

Alex stood all the way up but got very dizzy and put her sword in its sheath so she wouldn't drop it. She had to grab onto the couch next to herself to stop herself from falling over. She saw a shade come over her and she looked up to see Hun standing above her. "Not you," she groaned.

"Yes me," he said with an evil smile. He picked her up by her neck and Alex tried to claw his hand to get her to let go. He just squeezed harder and laughed. "This is for running off from your cell," he said. (Chapter 3 I think) He raised Alex up higher and threw her across the room.

She slammed her head off a heavy metal door and laid on the ground for a minute hoping the pain would go away. She couldn't help but clench it and feel something warm running down the side of her face. She looked at her hand to see a little bit of blood, but it wasn't a lot. She knew head injured bled a lot so it wasn't that bad.

Mikey jumped over to where Alex was and helped her up. She leaned on him as he opened the door she had hit her head off of and waited to get everyone inside. Alex turned the light on while Mikey yelled, "Everyone in here. We can hold them off!"

Alex was the first inside. April, Donny was in with Leo and Master Splinter next. Raph and Casey followed suit. Mikey shut the door behind him. They could all hear the Shredder yell in frustration from the room as the door shut.

"Well this is great," Raph complained. "Small, dark and no way out. Perfect for making a last stand."

"It's a walk in cooler," April told them. "This shop used to be a grocery store once upon a time."

"I never knew that," Alex said, trying to make it look like she wasn't hurt.

"Fascinating," Raph replied.

"Kind of quiet out there," Mikey said. "You think they all just went home?"

"Yeah, we scared them off by running into a closet and locking the door," Raph replied sarcastically. "Hey, I smell smoke."

Everyone started to sniff the air. "I smell gas," Donny said.

"Gas? Fire, gas. That's not good," Alex muttered.

"Mikey!" Raph scolded.

"No, not that kind of gas," Donny corrected.

"Hey, this doors getting hot," Mikey said. He tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "It's jammed. It won't open!"

"Gas plus flame equals," Casey said. "Let's book, now!"  
>"Didn't I just say that?" Alex said. "Nobody listens to me, do they?"<p>

"We gotta get out of here!" Raph yelled as he help Mikey in trying to open the door.

"Great," Alex said. _I'm going to die in a closet_, Alex thought. _That's very honorable_.


	16. Tales of Leo

**So I have some apologizing to do. I'm so sorry for how long this took to get out, but I was swamped with school work and working. Then I had a slight case of writers block, so I don't know if this is really a good chapter or not, so I;m sorry about that as well, but I do hope you like it. Please review and tell me what you think. And for those of you who haven't told me who you want Alex to be with please do.  
>I'd like to that tmntfreak1996, Snow246, <strong>**Nyx'sBlackRose, Jess Marylin and kaaayyytteee.  
>To Nyx'sBlackRose: I'm so glad you feel that way and I will try to do all the seasons and most of the episodes with her in them. Sometimes it just doesn't feel right to pit her in some. It's hard to do it sometimes because I like to have it be as close to the original episode as I can.<br>Once again, I'm so sorry and I'll stop talking so you can get back to reading what you have been waiting so long to read. ~Northie **

Chapter 16  
>"Tales of Leo"<p>

"You're going to love my grandma's old farm house," Casey said. "Me and my cousin Sid used to play there all the time when we were kids." He looked over at April, who was seated next to him in the car they were all in. Alex was sitting in the back by herself with her head against the window, in the same foul mood April was in. "April?"

"How do you think Leo's holding up?" she asked.

"Alright I hope," Alex murmured.

It was only yesterday that everything took place. Leo seemed to keep getting worse with each passing hour. He could no longer stay conscious and you could tell he was in a lot of pain. They had managed to get out of the back of the shop from a hole in the wall. The place was burnt down to the ground. Nothing was left whatsoever. April and Alex were left homeless with nothing but the things they were wearing when they escaped. Alex also had her weapons, but that didn't seem to make her feel any better at the moment.

The turtles, Alex, April and Splinter had stayed the night at Casey's place and had left very early that morning to travel to Casey's dead grandmother's farm house. They were going to be staying there for a while, while they waited for Leo to get better. It had to be someplace with space and quiet. The city was too small, loud and the Shredder was there. There was no way they could stay there.

Alex didn't feel well at all. She was tired, she had stayed up all night thinking and watching Leo's pained sleeping face. She was in pain. Marcus's attack had cut her side. There was a very large gash that was very deep, but not deep enough to have to get stitches. She had cleaned it and wrapped it up, but it continued to bleed. She had to keep changing the bandage. She didn't want the others to know she was hurt. They had enough to worry about with Leo. She was fine. She could take care of herself.

However, every time she moved, pain would shoot through her whole body. She couldn't lean on her side. She couldn't move to fast. She couldn't bump into anything or anyone. She couldn't do much of anything. That bothered her. She hated not doing anything. It was boring!

But what really bothered her was her brothers.

"This is it," Casey said as they started to pull up a long driveway. "Just like how I remember." Casey parked the car right in front. "Ah, isn't it great?"

The place was very large and you could tell it was once very beautiful. Now, it was more of an old, run down beauty. The place was had windows broken, broken shutters, but it was safe and had running water and electricity. It was better than nothing. A wind mill was out front and a red barn stood not too far away.

"Great does not even begin to describe this place," April said. She sounded rather shocked at the condition of the place.

Alex went in after Casey unlocked the door and grabbed some blankets for Leo. Casey and Mikey went out to grab fire wood. Donny, Raph and Master Splinter carefully brought Leo in and placed his unconscious body on the couch. Alex placed the blankets on the floor so the guys could put it over Leo. She didn't want him to get cold.

Alex stood there looking at Leo for a moment. She couldn't take it anymore. She had to get out of there. She couldn't stand seeing him like that. If it was her in that condition was one thing, she could take that, but if it was one of them, she couldn't deal with it. Especially when it was sort of her fault.

"I'm going out," Alex said. She ran out of the door before anybody could protest. She walked right pasted Mikey and Casey. They watched her walk past curiously, but shook it off and continued into the house with arms full of fire wood.

She found a quiet place to sit that was quiet and far enough away where only she could see the house. She sat down against and tree and let her head hit the trunk as she sighed. Nothing was right. It all hurt. Not just physically, but also mentally. The cold seemed to numb the pain for a little while, but the mental pain was still there. Then the numbness from the cold would wear off and she'd be in physical pain again.

This was all her fault. It she had never met the turtles then maybe none of this would have happened. She couldn't have gotten April's place burnt down. She wouldn't have gotten the guys homeless. She couldn't have gotten into a lot of trouble that they had gotten in from the Shredder. And most of all, Leo wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Leo being hurt was what was killing her the most. He was hurt because of her. It was her brothers that had done it to him. They had warned her that they were going to do it, but she had done nothing. She should have gone out and found him. Or maybe have even gone after her brothers after they left her bedroom. She should have done something!

She should have done more during the battle too. Sure, they were fighting her brothers, but they weren't themselves. She should have fought back for her _friends_. The ones who had been there for her all that time she was trying to get a hold of herself _because_ of her brothers. They had been the ones there for her, not them.

_But they're my brother,_ she fought with herself. _And Leo's,_ she stopped herself. _Leo is…Leo is…Leo's Leo. What else can I say to that? He's my friend. He's been there for me just like the others. He carried me when my leg was bad the first time we met. He did go after me when I was upset. That day when we met Nano. He went after me to see what was wrong. He was afraid it was something they had done. That _he_ had done. _

_He also helped me when we were in the Undergrounds. In more ways than one. He helped me walk after my leg got trapped under the rocks. He also managed to save me life too. When I wouldn't jump out of the craft we had been riding, he grabbed a hold of me and got me to jump out with him. I would have died if he hadn't of done that. He also comforted me when I thought Quarry was dead. _

_He's been doing a lot for me. Maybe he's just being a good friend, but it's meant everything. I don't know if I'd be here now if it weren't for him. He's been a good friend. He's been perfect. The perfect mutant? No, a perfect guy. He'd been nothing but a gentleman. And I have to go and almost get him killed! What the heck kind of monster am I?_

Alex didn't know how long she had been out there, but it must have been a long time. The sky had fallen black and billions of bright stars were out in the sky. It was a beautiful sight. You couldn't see stars in the city. The lights of everything around – cars, apartments, houses, businesses – were too bright and blocked out the amazing sight. It sort of calmed Alex down. She took in a deep breath and slowly stood up, making sure not to move to fast so she wouldn't hurt her wounded side. She had decided to go back to the farm house.

She was getting very cold and she really didn't want to be injured _and_ sick. That would really suck shell. _I really have to stop saying that_, Alex thought.

Alex quietly opened the door of the house and shut it quickly, but quietly, making sure not to make a lot of noise, but also so she wouldn't let in any cold air from outside into the warm, fire heated house. She also didn't want to get water on the nice clean floor (she could tell by how shiny it was) so she took off her shoes.

She didn't know why, but she wasn't tired at all. Maybe it had been the cold air that had made her so awake, but all she knew was she didn't want to go to bed. That would mean sleep, which meant dreaming, which meant a nightmare about her brothers. It seemed like she couldn't catch a break anywhere. Not with consciousness nor unconsciousness.

As Alex started to make her way across, she stopped and glanced over at Leo lying on the couch. He looked so peaceful sleeping there. He didn't look as bad as he had when they had first arrived. That was a good sign. She looked over to the stairs and then back over to Leo. She debated with herself for a moment before going over to sit on the floor next to Leo. She really wasn't tired so what else was there to really do?

Alex look Leo's hand that had been resting at his side and gently rubbed it with her thumb. "I'm so sorry, Leo. This is all my fault," she said trying not to let the tires that were welling up fall out of her eyes. "Maybe it would have been better if none of us had ever met." She took her eyes away from him and stared at the ground. "It seems all I bring people I care about is pain."

She didn't know why she was talking like he could hear her. She didn't know if he could or couldn't, but she couldn't stop. It felt good to get everything off her chest. She had been holding it in and it pained her. She was going to go insane if she didn't at least say it out loud (apparently to an unconscious turtle).

"What could it hurt if I went with them? My brothers," she continued. "I know he's our enemy, but he wants me. Maybe he'd let my brothers go if I went with him. You guys would only have to fight one person then. Who knows, maybe you and my brothers could get along and fight alongside one another.

"But I can't just do nothing anymore. I can't just sit here and watch them be controlled. Something was wrong with them. I just know it. Not just by their eyes or the way they were acting. I could just feel it. I don't know what Shredder did to them, but I really don't like it. I'll reverse it one way or another. I don't know how yet, but I'll do it. I have to."

"Alex," Leo muttered. His eyes fluttered open and he looked down at the red head at his side.

"Leo," she almost whispered. "You're awake." She smiled brightly and quickly whipped the tears away from her eyes.

"I have been for a while," he said. "Are you okay?"

It took her a minute to realize what he was asking. He had seen her wound when she was protecting him at the shop. He had been just as worried then as he was now. "I'm fine," she said. "You're the one we should be worried out. You really scared us, you know?"

"I'm fine," he said, trying to sit up. Alex helped him so he wouldn't hurt himself.

"I know, tough guy," Alex said with a small smile on her face. "Just don't push it, okay? Know your limitations."

"I'm fine, Alex. Just a little hungry," he said. He was about to try and stand up, but Alex gently pushed him back done.

"I'll get you something," she offered. "Cereal okay? There's not much here right now."

"Thanks," he said.

Alex got up from her spot and got a bowl of Frosted Flakes for Leo to eat. She handed it to him as she sat down on the side of the couch by his legs. Since he had sat up there was enough room for her to side comfortably. She watched him scarf down the bowl and she took it back to the kitchen when he was done. She sat back down in the same spot when she was done.

"We need to talk," Leo said.

"I know," she muttered.

"You're brother," he began, "They've been working for Shredder the whole time? Why didn't you tell us?"

"When I found out, you didn't know anything about the Shredder," she informed him. "I talked to Master Splinter about it. He told me about the Foot. He hoped you guys would ever have to find out, so I kept it a secret. I didn't think you needed to worry about it. They're _my_ brothers, not yours."

"But Alex," he begged to differ, "You're part of our family now. That means we tell each other everything. You should have told us. We could have helped. Maybe we still can."

"Do you really think you would have gone straight to that conclusion first?" she asked. "Are you sure you wouldn't have thought about if I was loyal? If I was a traitor? Because I know you guys. You think of almost every option. I don't think I could have gone through that. It's bad enough with my brothers telling me not to trust them when I do. They told me to forget about that completely. Would you be able to do that?"

"No," he almost whispered. "But what you were saying earlier. You haven't shown us any signs of being un-loyal. We would have thought of that option, but we wouldn't leave out the fact that your one of us and have stuck by us completely. Plus, why would they attack you and April if you weren't on our side?"

"You have a point," she murmured looking down at her hands.

"And about giving yourself up," he continued. "You can't do that. You may think it's a good idea now, but it's not. You're just hurt and confused. Nothing is making sense right now. But, you have to know we won't let you go, right?"

She didn't say anything. She just continued to stare at her hands. She _did_ know they wouldn't let her go. Or at least she did now. But the thought was still in her head. It was in the back of her mind where she knew it wouldn't leave. She couldn't get it out. She had to leave it out as an option in case things got worse. She'd bargain this herself.

"_I_ won't let you do it," Leo pushed when she did answer.

She looked up into Leo's eyes and was shocked to say the least. She knew she was part of their family, but she didn't know she was _that_ important to them. To Leo. It was sweet and reassuring, but at the same time it scared her. How was she ever going to be able to give herself up (if it came to it) if she knew she would hurt them? Let alone fight against them if she had to while working for him. She couldn't hurt them, just like she couldn't hurt her brothers.

"Alex," Leo said. "We'll make this right. We'll get them back. Don't you worry about that."

Alex could feel tears run down her face. She took in a shape breath to try and steady herself, but when she exhaled it came out as a sob. The tears continued to fall as she wished more and more that they would stop. She didn't want Leo to see her in such a weak state. "I'm scared," she blurted out without thinking.

Leo pulled her into a hug slowly, making sure not to hurt himself or her. She sat right next to him with his arm around her shoulders and his other hand rubbing the side of her face, whipping away tears. She laid her head on his shoulder and hid her face in the crook of his neck as she sobbed.

Alex didn't know how to feel. Obviously she was sad and confused about everything going on. Including the things about her brothers. But there was also something else. Alex had almost never felt so close to Leo before. She knew that this opening up thing may have been the reason why, but the feeling was strange. She felt comfortable, warm and cared for. She didn't know if she had felt that feeling before, but she didn't know if she liked it or not. Because her stomach lurched strangely and almost felt like it tickled or she was nervous over something. Maybe it was just the close proximity to Leo that made her feel nervous….? She didn't know, but she had no intention of moving.

Alex didn't know when it happened, but she had managed to fall asleep on Leo's shoulder. Shortly after Leo fell asleep too, with his head resting against hers.

9


	17. Return to New York Part 1

**Here is chapter 17. I hope you like it! Thanks go out to TMNTluckygirl, kaaayyytteee and Jess Marylin for reviewing. You guys are great!  
>There is another thing I'd like you guys to message me about. I know, I know, I ask so much of you. I just want you to tell me what you think of Alex. Is she cool, mean, nice? Is she a Mary-sue or not? I don't know what to really think. Tell me what you like about her and what you don't. It would really help. Thanks a bunch guys. Like I said, you're the best.<br>~ Nothie**

Chapter 17  
>"Return to New York"<br>Part 1

After staying at the farm for about two months and Leo and Alex, who still managed to keep her injuries a secret, had healed completely, Leo suggesting they head back home to finish off the Shredder once and for all. Everyone seemed to agree with that, even Alex. But not without scaring her and giving her a massive head ache.

Alex wanted to get it all over just like the rest of them. She wanted to make Shredder pay for what he did to her family and the turtles. She had to also manage to get her brothers back someway, which she still had to figure out. She needed to know exactly how he was controlling them before she even had the chance to get them back to her and back to normal or as normal as they were….

"All clear," they all heard Raph tell them from around the corner.

Casey was the first to walk out of their little hiding spot in the sewer, which might have not been the smartest idea because he kicked a can. Alex just rolled her eyes and walked out as well. There were just some things that didn't shock her anymore. She had been around Casey too often to not be shocked by half of the things he did.

"Nice one Casey," Donny scolded as he also walked out.

"Why don't you just broadcast it to the Foot ninjas?" Mikey also added.

"What Foot ninjas?" he asked. "I'm telling you there's nobody down here."

They all stood quietly as Master Splinter had started to sniff the air around them. "I believe you may be right, Mr. Jones."

"Well that'd be a first," April just had to add in there. Alex had to agree. That was one thing that did shock the girl. It really was a first.

Donny twisted one of the pipes and all the pipes against the wall started to move. After that he turned on of the wheels on one of the pipes and a little security pad popped out. He punched in what Alex thought was: 1, 5, 7, 9, 5, 9, 9, 5. It almost sounded musical. The whole wall completely moved revealing an untouched Lair. Donny did a great job hiding it so that nobody, that included the Foot and Shredder, could find it.

"Welcome home everybody," Donny said, walking into the Lair.

Everybody followed suit.

"Just like we left it," Leo said.

"Cool," Raph added.

"Home sweet home!" Mikey yelled.

"And you were worried the Foot would find this place, Mikey," Donny said starting up his computers.

"Heck yeah," he replied from the kitchen. He opened the cabinet up and took out a couple bags of potato chips and started to hug them. "I couldn't bear the thought of them harming my babies." He rubbed his head against the bags, breaking some of the chips inside, no doubt. "Hello babies." He started to kiss them. "Daddy missed you. Yes he did." He kissed them again. "Did you miss me? Did You?"

"That's just sad," Alex muttered to herself. She had never seen anyone be into junk food _that_ much in her whole life. And that was saying something. She just had to turn her attention away from the scene playing out. She was starting to get a little scared of Mikey when he did that. "And weird."

"I don't get it," Raph said, beating up his punching bag. "Last time the sewers were crawling with Foot goons searching for us. Why would Shredder just send them all home?"

Leo stopped the bag from swinging as he said, "Maybe he thinks there's no one left to search for."

"You know," Raph continued, "Being dead may have its advantages."

"Yeah," Leo agreed. "It just might give us the element of surprise."

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Mikey asked as he and Casey walked out of the kitchen area.

"I think he's thinking what you think he's thinking," Donny said.

"If he's thinking what I'm thinking, then I'm thinking we shouldn't just be thinking," Raph said. "What do you think?"

"I think we're using this bit too much," Alex said. "It was funny the first minute but now it's just annoying."

"That's not what we meant," Donny said to her.

"Well that's what I was thinking," she defended. "Raph did ask what I was thinking and now I say we should stop saying thinking because we've said it too many times."

"Huh?" Casey asked confused.

"The Shredder believes us vanquished in the explosion at Ms. O'Neil's. Thus leaving our enemy vulnerable to a surprise attack."

"Ah," Casey said, enlightened.

"Okay," Leo said, thinking. "If we're going to do this we need to find out everything we can about Foot Headquarters."

"I don't know if I can hack into that system," Donny said. "It was designed by Dr. Baxter Stockman himself."

"To bad you don't know anybody who used to work with Stockman," April said.

While April and Donny worked on hacking the Foot's system and Raph, Leo and Master Splinter talked about the battle they were about to face, hid herself in the bathroom. She sat herself against the wall and held her head in her hands while it pounded. She decided that meditating would be something she should try to calm herself down, so, after getting in position and evening her breathing, she couldn't help but let her mind wonder.

In, out. In, out.

Of course she was as eager as the guys to get the Shredder to fall, but something just didn't feel right. Maybe it was because the last time they had fought him, he burned down her aunts shop and almost killed Leo. Although, the last part was more her brothers doing than Shredder, but he had ordered them to do it and somehow brainwashed them into doing whatever it was he wanted, like getting Alex to join them. Or actually stabbing Alex to try and kill her.

In, out. In, out. In, out.

She wanted Shredder to pay just like the rest of them, but she also wanted to figure out how to get her brothers back. Why if they did kill the Shredder and her brothers didn't snap back to normal? What if they were stuck like that forever? Then she'd never get them back. She couldn't have that. No, she wouldn't have that.

In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out.

She was scared, like she had told Leo. What if, what if, what if? It seemed she had been asking that questing far too much lately. Leo said she shouldn't worry about it. That they would make it all right, he promised, or more insured it. But she still couldn't help but feel that way. She had her doubts just like any other person would, except this was far bigger than what most people dealt with in their everyday lives. She didn't know how she was still sane. Or even if she still was sane…

Alex couldn't take it anymore. She quickly changed into her ninja outfit and properly placed her weapons in their holsters and places. She took in a deep breath and exited the bathroom and walked up behind all the turtles. Once again, like many times before, they didn't hear her come up. _Really_?

"Are we ready to go?" she asked, making them jump, except for Master Splinter.

"Alex!" Mikey scolded. "How many times do we have to tell you to stop doing that?"

"You can tell me it as many times you want to, but I'm not going to stop walking," she almost laughed. "So, are we going or what?"

"Let's roll," Raph said.

The guys, Master Splinter and Alex made their way through the large piping and ducts of the Foot Head Quarters. They had snuck in by using the Battle Shell as a distraction. It was a brilliant plan thought up by, none other than, Donatello. Leave it to Donny to create a great plan like that.

"Nice remote control work Slick," Raph complimented as they got out of the pipes.

"And they saw hours and hours of video games are bad for you," Mikey said following Donny out.

"Poor Battle Shell," Donny said, trying to see if there was anything left of it with the remote he had been controlling it with. "I really loved that over sized, gadget loaded, gas guzzler."

Leo came out behind him and said, "And I'm sure the next one you build you'll love just as much, but right now, let's stick to the plan."

Master Splinter was the last one out before Alex. Donny was still standing next to the hole. He put his hand out for Alex to take, to help her down. She smiled at him graciously and said, "Thank you, Donatello. Such a gentleman."

"Don't mention it," he replied a little bashful. "April," he said over the mic on his head. "Stage one complete."

"We should keep moving," Leo said. "This way."

So, instead of getting directions to where to go, the just tried to find their own way there. When they came to a door that Leo liked, they stopped and tried to talk to April. She told them what it was, which was the place they had been looking for all along. _How does that even work_? Alex asked herself. It's _like a cartoon where everything works out in the end? Are there cameras around here filming or something because this can't be real! How does it always workout perfectly fine for them? _

"April," Donny said. "I'm having trouble getting in. Can you dig up an access code?"

"You do know I worked for Stockman too, right?" Alex said. She was feeling rather unappreciated. She wasn't some stupid teenager. She had worked for the genius, crazy Baxter Stockman too, just like April. She had to at least be somewhat smart to do that. And she wasn't just _somewhat_ smart.

"Allow me?" Raph said. He backed up and everyone else got away. He ran forward and knocked the door down by kicking it in.

"Noise," Mikey said. "But affective."

"I could've opened it if you let me," Alex said walked past Donny and Mikey into the room where Raph now was with her weapons drown just in case she needed them.

Everyone jumped into the room with their weapons drawn. There were a lot more than the eleven that Alex could clearly see, but that wouldn't stop them. They had fought of Foot before and they were a piece of cake. Plus, they were all there together. They had each other's backs. They weren't going to let anyone down.

"Now that's a lot of ninjas," Mikey said.

"Thank you, Mikey, for pointing that our," Alex said, charging forward to meet the Foot half way as they had started to charge as well.

"So, are we doing this with banter or without?" Mikey asked. "Definitely without."

Alex just rolled her eyes and tackled one of the Foot to the ground before he couple pull out his weapon. She hit him on the head so that he wouldn't be able to get up right away, but wasn't unconscious. She glanced back to see how the guys were doing. They seemed to be holding their own, so, Alex grabbed the Foot guy by his collar, dragged him around the back of a very large machine so nobody could see them.

She picked the guys up off the ground and slammed him up against the machine. "What has the Shredder done to my brothers?" she asked fiercely.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, playing dumb.

She slammed him up against the machine again, but much harder than the last time. "Tell me what he did to them!" she screamed, not sure if the others could hear her over all the fighting.

"I'm not telling you anything," he said once more.

Alex didn't like what she was hearing. "That's it," she grumbled annoyed.

She lifted the guy off the ground and roughly threw him across from where they were to the fall. He fell to the ground and groaned. Alex walked over to him and stepped onto his chest, then sat on him, straddling his chest and pulled out her tanto. She placed it on his neck and pressed it ever so lightly to his skin just enough to leave a small mark, but not enough to bleed to show him she meant business.

"Tell me what he did," she pressed once more. "Or you're going to just be one more thing they're going to have to clear up around here when we're done."

Of course, she was bluffing. He couldn't tell that though. She would never kill a person. Maybe the Shredder, who was hurting other people, but she wasn't going to kill some weaker Foot ninja. He wasn't worth it. She just wanted him to believe she was going to so she could get thing information she wanted.

"A ray," he quickly croaked out. "He, he used some sort of ray on them."

"Impossible," she almost yelled. "There is no such thing. It's not possible!"

"I swear!" he protested. "I saw him do it. He got your brothers and a guy named," he was about to tell her when he was interrupted.

"Alex!" she heard Raph called out. "We're going. Get your butt over here."

"My brothers and who?" she quickly asked.

"He's name's," once again, he was interrupted.

"We have to go Alex!" Mikey called out.

Alex growled and hit the Foot over the head with the butt of her tanto. She left him there unconscious as she ran over to the turtles and Master Splinter. They had uncovered a vent in the Northwest corner of the room and were starting to make their way up and into it. She crawled into the vent rather annoyed. She had wanted to find out what the guys name was.

Eventually they jumped out of the vents and landed in a room which looked to store weaponries. Very large, powerful looking machines like tanks, hover crafts and other powerful, advanced things like that. Alex was impressed. She had no idea they had advanced weaponry like that. On the other hand, it was bad for them. Or good, if they could use it against them.

"It's like I died and went to techno geek heaven," Donny said as he looked around.

"Whoa," Raph could be heard saying. "A turtle could kick some serious butt with this stuff."

"What do you think this one does?" Mikey asked as he dug through a box and pulled out a very large gun thing…He pressed a button and a large buff of smoke came out.

"Does that answer your questing, Lame Brain?" Leo commented.

"Come my sons," Splinter said. "We must keep on the move."

"Sure, nobody adds in 'Hey Alex, come on. We're going.' Nope, I'll get left behind one of these days. You won't even know I'm gone," she mumbled under her breath and she walked over to them.

She stopped suddenly when she felt uneasy. She didn't move for a minute and just tried to listen and look around her to see what she was feeling. She wasn't going to push the feeling away because every other time she and "sensed" things, they turned out to be true. So, she thought it best to stop and try to figure out what really was there.

Without any warning to Alex, she was grabbed from behind. A hand covered her mouth so she couldn't scream out. An arm was wrapped around her chest where she wouldn't be able to move her arms. Two hands wrapped around her ankles – one on each – and lifted her legs off the ground so she couldn't kick. She tried to squirm her way out of the invisible kidnappers hold, but it was rather difficult.

_Why_ _didn't I sense they were right there next to me?_ She yelled at herself. _I'm really out of whack. I really need to get my brothers and out of here._

Alex managed to bite down on the hand that was over her mouth, causing the person to let her mouth and upper body go. She could tell the backed up a couple steps and she landed on her back on the ground with her feet still in the air, firm in the person's grip. She pushed herself off the ground and swung her feet – with the guys still holding on – and sent him flying over her into the other invisible person by doing a back flip.

She jumped up and saw their invisibility cloaking devises short circuited. She could now see them clearly. "Stupid Foot Tech Ninjas," she muttered. "You can't take me out that easily."

They both went running at her so she jumped up and kicked her legs out to the sides and kicked them both at the same time. She landed on the ground and stud up straight, but heard a strange noise behind her. She turned around to look and see what it was. Her eyes widened and she jumped out of the lazar being shot out of a hover craft Raph was on.

"Watch it Raph!" she yelled at him. She was about to turn back to the Foot, but was kicked in the stomach and knocked onto the ground. She rolled back up as quickly as she could and caught one of the punched thrown at her. She grabbed his hand and arm and threw him into the other Foot. The room seemed to shake as a loud crash could be heard. "What the heck are the guys doing?"

One of the guys came running at her. She managed to dodge his kick and she swung her hand onto his neck, hitting a pressure point, making him loose consciousness. She fell to the ground as the other guys jumped up and tried to kick her over and over. She had to keep backing up until she was against a wall. The guy jumped one last time to get Alex, but she dodged to the left, grabbed his leg and swung him around and into the wall. He hit his head and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Well that was a fun excursive," she said as she walked out from the secluded area she was in and out into the open to where the guys were.

"Which way now?" Donny asked.

"To find where Alex went," Leo said, with his back to where Alex was walking from.

"How the _shell_ did you do that?" she asked as she saw the huge hole in the ceiling. "I get attacked for, what, five minutes? And look what you do to the place."

"Now that we have Alex," Leo said. "Up." He pointed at the hole she had been looking at, answering Donny's question.

"_Yeah_," she said sarcastically. "_Climbing_."

Climbing was never one of Alex's strong suits. She could jump very well, but free climbing always made her feel like the things she was grabbing onto were going to give away. She _would_ jump all the way up, but it was too far up for her to reach. She took a deep breath before starting to climb up ahead of the others.

As she was climbing, she grabbed onto a pipe, but it gave way and slipped out of where it was. Alex started to fall. She was going to scream as she couldn't grab a hold of anything, but before she could, Raph grabbed her arm and pulled her up onto his shell.

"Hang on," he said.

"Thanks," she said when they got to the top.

"No problem," he replied, not making eye contact.

They started to walk around the room they had climbed into. The place too strangely familiar. It looked like a lab of some sort. Machines were everywhere and three large tubes were filled with green liquid. Something was in them, but it was hard to tell what it was.

"Déjàvu," Alex said.

"What is this place?" Splinter asked.

"April," Donny said into the mic. "Check the building schismatic's. See if you can tell us where we are."

"It looks kind of familiar," Raph said.

"Hence my Déjàvu," Alex said with a smile laugh.

"It should," Donny said. "It's a Foot Genetics Lab."

"_Great_," Alex said. "More monsters."

"Are you saying that this is just like that abandoned lab deep under that city?" Leo asked.

"Dun dun dun dun," Mikey sounded.

Raph hit him on the back of the head causing Alex to giggle. "Knock it off, Mikey."

Then alarms went off. "Why am I always around loud noises?" Alex asked herself remembering all the alarms she had been around that hurt her head. "I'm going to do def."

"I didn't touch anything," Mikey defended. "Honest."

Without anymore warning, besides the alarms, the three large tubes in the middle of the room opened up and the green liquid poured out onto the floor. The first things to come out was a very tall, burly man with four arms in the same kind of outfit the Shredder wore.

"Is that the Shredder?" Mikey asked.

"I don't think so Mikey," Donny said.

The other two creatures were very similar to the other one, however, one was very short and the other had a large claw, like a crab's claw. They too were wearing the Shredder outfit. The metal clawed gloves included.

"Though they might be his genetic clones," Donny added.

"Might be?" Raph asked rhetorically.

The creatures started to walk towards them and that made them have to back up. "Hey Donny," Mikey said. "Got anything in your bag of tricks to deal with this?"

The creatures roared and lunged.


	18. Return to New York Part 2

**I feel horrible. I've been so busy with so much homework lately that I haven't been able to do anything for this or any of my other stories. I'm so sorry. Really, I hate it when authers do that and now I've become a hippocrite. So, I'm sorry.  
>I have an anouncment. It's nothing bad or anything. It's just about the second season on TMNT 2003. I will be doing it too, but it will be in another story, like a series or saga. The name will change, I will tell you and post it on the last chapter of this series. I will have the last chapter out at the same time the new story is out so you can go straight over to the next. I do need suggestions for a Title for the new story, so please message and tell me that.<br>**

**Thanks go out to: yesiamweird, TMNTluckeygirl, pokemonjkl (I have the list, thank you very much. I will most definetly use some of those), Jess Marylin and kaaayyytteee. You guys are the best, really. I know I say that a lot, but It's true. You're feed back is what helps me make these chapters. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.  
>Northie<strong>

Chapter 18  
>"Return to New York"<br>Part 2

"What are those things?" Leo asked.

"My guess would be genetically engineered hybrids clones," Donny yelled as he blocked an attack from the four armed one. "Recombinant mutations of the Shredder DNA."

"That's what I was going to stay," Mikey joked.

"Sure you were Mikey," Alex said with her swords out. "Wasn't one Shredder enough? I mean, four is too many. Well," she stopped herself. "Three and a half. This one only counts as half because he's so small."

Mikey laughed. "Good one, Alex." He hit one of the mutations. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're not me," she replied, jumping up from the large one and over its head.

Alex was helping with Four arms while Leo and Raph were fighting the Munchkin. Master Splinter was fighting the one with the Funky arms. Four swung at Donny and he jumped over his head like Alex had. As he was about to land, Four kicked him, sending him into Alex. They both fell over with Donny on top of Alex.

Donny quickly got up off of Alex and put his hand for her to take. She took it and, once again said, "Thanks Don. You're such a gentleman."She got him to blush like before, which had been her intention. She thought it was amazingly cute when he blushed like that. It made her want to give him a hug then and there, but they didn't really have the time to do that.

"Yo," Mikey said. "Armed and dangerous. How'd you like some yucks and chucks?" Four grabbed onto the "chucks" and threw Mikey across the room and crashing into the green tubes that they had come out of.

"April," Donny said over the mic. "Can you find us a way out of here? Fire stairs, an elevator, anything?"

Alex looked over at him to make sure he was okay. She turned her attention back to Four as he picked her up with his two top arms and threw her onto a table with test tubes on it. They broke as she landed on them, making her cry out in pale as little pieces of glass stuck into her back. She rolled onto the ground, unfortunately falling on her back, making her cry out even more. When she landed she also landed on a larger shard of glass that stuck itself into her leg. She pulled it out despite her head telling her not to.

She slowly stood up and looked at the ground where she landed. There was a tiny bit of blood there, but it wasn't a hug amount. Most likely it was just a little bit of glass in her back. She looked over to where Donny was. Four was making his way over to Donny, who was backing up over to the hole they had come out of. He went too far and fell over the edge.

"Donny!" Alex yelled. She tried to jump over the table to go help, but her foot got caught on a Bunsen burner making her topple over the desk, again, and onto the ground on her back, again. She cried out again as she felt the glass go in a little further into her back. She rolled over to her side and cried out as she tried to get up, "Donny!"

She slowly started to limp over to Four as he pulled Donny up from over the ledge and try to squish him to death. Alex was very glad he was all right and not a pancake, but wasn't happy he was going to be juice. She pulled out her sword as she took in a deep breath to try to ignore the pain in her leg.

She was about to attack when Leo and Raph kicked Four from behind. He let go of Donny as he stumbled forward. "Wow," she said to herself, shaking her head. "I'm getting a little too slow and a lot more hurt lately."

Alex ran as fast as she could to help Donny up. "So kind of you," he said as he took her hand. After he was standing he noticed the blood on her hand from pulling out the glass shard from her leg. "Holy shell," he said, looked at Alex. "What happened to you?"

"I got into a fight with mutant beakers," she replied.

"You're starting to sound like Mikey," he replied helping her walk over to the group.

"Oh dear God," she said. "If I turn into him, hit me."

"What about me?" Mikey asked.

"Nothing," Alex laughed. "Don't worry about it."

Mikey's shell cell started to ring. He picked it up and answered with, "Mutant Clone Control. You splice them, we slice them."

"When do I get a shell cell?" she asked more to herself. "I want on. That would be cool."

"Maybe I'll make you one when we get out of here," Donny suggested.

"Thanks so sweet of you," she said with a smile. "Thanks Donny." She pulled him into a hug and winced when he touched her back.

"Sorry," he said with a sad expression. "I'll take a look at that in a minute."

"Yo Donny," Mikey said. "It's for you."

"April," Donny said after putting the head set on from Mikey's phone. "What did you find?"

Alex walked over to stand next to Raph as Donny talked to April. He ran off doing to the desk she had landed on with all the broken glass and searched for something on the bottom. She turned her attention to the others to see how they were. It seemed that she was the one in the worst condition. _Great_, she thought. _I need to stop getting hurt_.

"Geez Alex," Raph said.

"Shush," she said. Her head hurt a little and she felt a little dizzy. She grabbed his arm to prevent herself from falling over.

"Are you okay?" he asked a little more concerned.

"I'm fine," she said. "Do you have a piece of cloth I can have or something?"

"Hold on," Raph said. He walked over to one of the tables and ripped a piece of lab coat off for her. "Here."

"Thanks Raph," she said. She tied the cloth around her leg to help stop the bleeding. She took in a deep breath and the dizziness stopped a little. Her head still hurt a little though.

"Better?" he asked as he got her to hold onto his arm for support even thought she really didn't need it anymore. She took it anyways.

"Much," she said with a smile. "Thank you very much." _Why is everyone being so nice to me?_ Alex asked herself. _Maybe Leo told them that my brothers were the Elite. Great, pity. I don't like it when people pity me._

They all heard a door open and they walked over to the large hole. The door to the elevator they needed was across it. There wasn't any other way to get across. They'd have to jump if they wanted to get across and it was way too far to land cleanly.

"And how are we supposed to get across that?" Raph asked.

"Fly?" Alex suggested. She shook her head when she realized what she had said. "I really am starting to sound like Mikey."

"No sweat," Donny said. "I came prepared." Donny pulled out a gravelling hook and got it hooked on some pipes on the ceiling. He swung over first and sent the hook back.

Mikey caught it but stopped at the last second and turned to Alex. "Taxi service, my Lady." He held out his arm for her so he could carry her over. It hurt around her back, but she sucked it up she wrapped her arms around his neck. He yelled like Tarzan as they swung across. Alex laughed.

"What?" Mikey asked Donny when they got over. "At least it's not kowabunga. Plus, Alex thought it was funny." He sent the rope back and Raph caught it.

"She's the only one who finds your jokes funny, Mikey," Donny said.

"I have low standards on humor," she said. "What can I say?"

The three clones growled as they stood up and started to make their way over to Raph, Leo and Splinter. Raph handed the rope to Leo and Leo grabbed Splinter to jump over. They swung over as Raph held off Funky. He caught the rope when it was sent back, but when he jumped it was cut by his claw.

"Raph!" Alex yelled. She tried to move forward, but Mikey grabbed her and made her stay in place. "Oh thank God."

"Raph!" Leo called out as Raph hung to a pipe.

"Yeah what?" he yelled annoyed.

"Oh crap," Alex said as she saw Hun come in down below with some Foot. He ran over to one of the tank things with arms and got in. "Oh Hunny, don't do that."

"Did you just call him Hunny?" Donny asked.

"Yup," she said, popping the _p_.

"Raph, don't move until I tell you," Leo said.

"Are you nuts?" Raph asked.

"Trust me bro," Leo replied. "Get ready." Funky leapt forward to Raph while Hun shot one of the missiles of the tank thing. "Now!" Raph swung and grabbed onto another pipe, making Funky miss and get hit by the missile instead. He fell to the ground along with a lot of rubble.

Leo and Master Splinter pulled Raph up over the ledge. Mikey had dragged Alex over to the elevator with Donny already. Donny was impatiently pressing the buttons while Alex picked a couple pieced of glass out of her back. Yeah, that sounds like a great time!

"Hurry it up guys," Donny said. "We're about to have another clone encounter."

The two clones that were on the other side under all the glass had gotten up and started to make their way over to the large hole in the floor. They stood there for a moment like they were trying to figure out a way across. Alex didn't like the look on their faces.

"Ha ha!" Mikey yelled at them. He found the whole thing very humorous. Alex restrained the urge to smack him. "Denied!"

The two clones looked down once more and they back up at them. Without much warning, they leapt forward and across to the other side, where they were all waiting for the elevator to come.

"Ah shell," Raph muttered.

"This is why you don't taunt the enemy until we're far, far away, Mikey. Do you understand?" Alex scolded.

Mikey pushed Alex back closer to Donny, behind them so she wouldn't have to fight. She impatiently tried to pry the doors open as the two clones started to get closer to the cornered ninja. Alex growled annoyed to herself. _Come on, come on. This is the time where we need real life to be like a cartoon! Come on_, she thought to herself.

Four tried to attack Donny and Alex, but they dodged the first attack and Raph managed to divert the second one. He kicked him away and Four moved back away from Alex and Donny, who were now really wishing the elevator was there. Donny kept trying the button, but Alex really didn't see how that was going to get the elevator there any sooner. But if it made Donny feel better to do it then she wouldn't say anything.

The doors finally opened and Alex fell in because she had been leaning up against it with her shoulder. _Note to self_, she though, _don't lean against elevator doors. Dumb idea_.

Donny got in after her quickly and turned around to tell the others. "Hey guys!"

Mikey was the first one of the fighting ninja to get into the elevator. Splinter was in right after him and was followed by Leo and Raph very shortly after. The all stood in the red colored elevator and tried to catch their breath.

"Okay," Mikey said. "Did Shredder like wake up one morning and say, 'Here's an idea. Mutant clones of me. Really ugly ones.'"

The others didn't seem to find it very funny, but Alex laughed. It was so stupid and dumb that she thought it was funny, yet, like she had said earlier, she had very low standards on what she thought was funny. At least it made Mikey feel better knowing _someone_ liked his jokes. Too bad it was _only_ Alex.

There was a loud noise from outside the elevator making Alex and everyone jump and look over. It was bad enough Alex didn't like elevators in the first place; she always thought they would break and she'd be trapped in it for hours or the cable would snap and she'd go falling to her doom, now she was trapped in an elevator being pursued by mutant clones of the Shredder. What a great field trip this was turning out to be!

Four started to pry open the door with his abnormally strong four arms. _I guess they would come in handy_, Alex thought.

"Hold that thought," Donny warned Mikey. Donny pulled out an electric star and through it at the door, electrocuting that clones making them fall back and let go of the door. Good old Donny with all his gadgets.

Leo pulled out one of his swords and used it to open the hatch in the roof of the elevator. He put it back and he ordered everyone, "Everybody out. Double time."

"Nun chuck express," Mikey said as he held out one of his chuck to lift everybody to the top of the elevator. "Going up!"

Raph was shot up first, followed by Leo, Alex, Donny and Splinter. Master Splinter and Leo pulled Mikey up after everyone else was up. They were just in time too. The two clones had just been able to get up and make their way into the elevator. They didn't seem happy that they had shut the hatch either. They stated to bang on it like they'd actually let them up. Ha!

"Now what?" Raph asked.

Leo looked around for a moment before answering. "Grab onto the counter weight cable," he told them. Leo stayed on the hatch while everybody ran over and grabbed onto the cable. When everybody was there, he quickly got up and did the same as they had.

The hatch opened and Shorty popped out of the hole. Four was trying to make his way up, but he got stuck. It was rather a funny sight. Alex giggled at the misfortune of the largest clone who was the reason she had glass stuck in her back. Shorty lunged forward.

"Hang on!" Leo told everyone as he cut the main cable.

They went flying up as the elevator went falling down. _That's why I don't like elevators_, Alex though as she watched it fall all the day down the shaft. She short of felt bad for the two clones falling to their death. They had been bread for nothing more than to kill things. They didn't know any better. Just like Nano. _Poor Nano_, Alex thought, remembering the little guy.

Leo brought her attention back to the situation when he yelled, "Get ready, it's about to hit."

She looked up for a place to jump to be didn't have a lot of time considering how fast they were going. The elevator crashed at the bottom and the cable shook, making the guys fly off while Master Splinter and Alex held on. They hung there for a moment. Alex was looking down at the fire at the bottom. She still felt kind of bad, but there was nothing she could do about it down.

"My sons," Splinter said. "Are you all right?" he didn't ask Alex because she was right there with him. He could see she was fine, or as fine as she could before the situation they were in. She still had a little bit of glass in her back; she had managed to pick a lot of it out while they were waiting for the elevator. Another thing she didn't like elevators; they took forever.

"Yeah," Raph replied, pulling himself up on to one of the doorways. "Peachy."

"No need for sarcasm," Alex said. "He was just asking." He stuck his tongue out at her and she did that same back to him. She couldn't help but smile and give a little laugh though.

He and Donny opened the door and walked out first. Leo and Mikey jumped up there after and Master Splinter looked at Alex silently asking if she was thinking the same thing he was. She nodded her head and they both swung up to the platform with gentleness and grace. It almost looked like a form of art.

They had arrived at a long, strange hallway. Donny started to ask April about it. Alex could tell something was up with it. She knew there had to be things hidden. It was the only explanation because you couldn't visibly see anything wrong with it. But she just knew. She had one of her feelings. She didn't know what to call them. It wasn't a mother's intuition, she wasn't a mother. She did have sisterly intuition, but this had nothing to do with her brothers. Maybe it was just the ninja intuition. _I'll go with that_, she thought.

Master Splinter and Alex both stopped instantly when they were about to walk into that hallway. They both put their arms out to stop the people behind them. Splinter started to sniff the air. Alex didn't sniff the air, she wasn't a rat, but she could still tell there was something there. Something she didn't like very much.

"I sense something," he said.

"You're not the only one," Alex replied, just starring out into the hallways blankly. She really wanted to know what it was that was there.

"Traps," Splinter continued. "We must proceed with caution."

With that, he jumped forward, not even touching the floor once. He had jumped from wall to wall to get all the way over to the other side. Alex jumped after him quickly, following his exact moves and places to land. She didn't want to risk setting anything off. She stood next to him on the other side once she crossed. She looked back over at the guys and watched and waited for them to get over.

Donny did the same thing Splinter and Alex did. Alex smiled at Donny and said, "Nice moves."

"Thank you," he said with a smile. "You too."

Alex laughed for some reason. Maybe it was just a little funny that they had done the exact same things. But really, it wasn't that funny. Maybe being in the situation they were in, she needed to find something to laugh about so she wouldn't find herself going crazy. For some reason, this place reminded her of the house in the movie _Thir13en Ghosts_, with all its tricks and such, there just weren't any ghosts though. Ninja yes, ghosts no… That they knew of…Maybe they did have ghosts and they just didn't know yet…It wouldn't be shocking though. He did have mutant clones, ninja, high tech ninja and a freaky big gangster guy (Hun) all working for him. Maybe he somehow managed to get ghosts working for him. You never know.

While they were talking though, they didn't notice Raph bolting across because he believed there wasn't anything down there. Which he had been wrong about. He managed to step on a button on the floor that set swinging things that were rather sharp and a drop mote thing with sharp spikes in the bottom at the end. He just laughed nervously when he got over.

"Raphael," Splinter scolded. "Your rashness will be the end of you yet."

"Hey, I made it didn't I?" he said.

"And what of your brothers?" he retorted.

Mikey was making his way across in a goofy and clumsy manor. Alex didn't want to look. So, instead she turned around and looked at the large door behind them. It had a large red Foot symbol on it. It was their only way out. She leaned on it casually, forgetting that she had a little bit of glass in her back.

When she leaned on it, she instantly shot up and said, "Ow." She walked over to Donny, who was still watching Mikey make his way across. "Do you mind helping me with this?" she asked him, showing him her back.

"No problem," he said, taking a pair of tweezers out of his bag and quickly getting out the last of the glass. "There you go. We'll just have to disinfect it later."

"Thanks Don," she said as Leo landed in front of them. She sort of hid being Donny as Leo yelled at Mikey for goofing off. He did have a point, but that didn't mean he had to say it so meanly or actually scare Alex. She really didn't want to be on the bad side of Leo. She knew how strong he was. She didn't know if she'd ever be able to beat him if her life depended on it.

Leo opened the door to reveal a rooftop space. It was rather cool and very foggy out there. Alex continued to walk behind Donny while holding onto his arm for some reason. She was a little creeped out by the fog, yes, but she wasn't really that scared. It could have been the creepy looking stone statues. Yeah, maybe that was it.

"This is really creepy," Alex sang, in a way that really reminded her of Mikey. "Okay, now I know I'm turning into him. I need a vacation from you guys. No offense."

"None taken," Raph said. "We're sick of you too."

"Ouch," she joked. "I never said I was _sick_ of you."

"These symbols each represent one of the five elements," Splinter said, cuing for everyone else to shut up and listen. "Earth, fire, water, wind and metal."

"Doesn't metal come from earth?" Alex whispered to Donny. He didn't reply.

"Look," Donny did say.

The five statues were coming to life. "Yeah, that's why I don't like those people who dress up like statues and stand out in the streets," Alex said. "You never know what you're going to jump out and kill you. Like Santa Claus."

"Santa Claus?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah," Alex replied. "My brothers told me he was going to kill me in my sleep on Christmas eve. That's why I stay up all nice on Christmas. "

While Alex was rambling on about how creepy the concept of a fat man in a red suit breaking into your house in the middle of the night to leave things presents, the statues closed in on the rat, turtles and human girl. She didn't care. She pulled out her weapons like everyone else was doing and got into position as well, but continued on with her rant. It didn't seem to phase her one bit.

"Be prepared for anything my sons," Splinter said, ignore the rant from the girl.

All five of the statues shot what looked to be lightning bolts at them. They all were sent flying backwards. Alex was going to be shot back like the others (Which she really preferred not to do because it looked rather painful, but what could you do?), but one the Metal statue grabbed a hold of her and threw her up to the flag hanging on the wall. She fell to the ground painfully and rubbed her head. She didn't have a lot of time to even think about standing up before someone grabbed her by the collar of her suit and carried her through a door.

It was an elevator door. Alex was dropped on the ground. She looked up to see all three of her brothers and the unknown subject, or Unsub, standing there. She stared up at them for a moment before standing up, brushing herself off and leaning against the wall. At least it didn't hurt that time. She no longer had any glass stuck in her back.

When the elevator door opened, her brother Marcus pulled her by her arm to the hallway before them. Zack opened the door for them to enter. They came into a large room, very much like the one she had been taken to the day she was tortured by the very man they were taking her to. The Shredder stood at the far side of the room. He turned his attention to them once he heard the door open.

"Hello Alex," he greeted.

"Sup Evil Man," she replied. "I'd say it's nice seeing you again, but then I'd be lying. And I get the impression you don't like liars. That's one thing we have in common."

"Smart girl," he said. "I'm guessing you know why you're here."

"In general I do," she replied like it was nothing. "But the specifics I don't."

"I know you can tell that I've done something to your brothers," he said.

"I don't like it," she blurted out. She didn't care what he was going to do to her. She just really didn't care anymore. What more could he do to her? He had already taken her family away. He took her best friends away from her (brothers). The worst he could do was kill them or kill her.

"I didn't think you would," he said.

"That doesn't matter to you though," she added for him.

"Like I said before," he started, "Smart girl."

"What is it you want from me?" she asked annoyed.

Alex could almost tell he was smirking under his helmet. She didn't like that. "At the moment," he started, "I just want to run a test."

Alex was confused. He sort of lost her. "A test?" she asked hesitantly. "What kind of test?"

"It's a simple test," he added, not really answering his attention. "You don't have to do very much, just try to lay as still as you can and deal with it."

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like this very much," Alex added as Marcus started to drag her across the floor again over behind a panel. The Shredder was standing in front of it. "It wasn't nice seeing you again," she said in a way that sounded like it was. Of course she was being sarcastic. She'd prefer the Shredder dead in a whole, but that didn't seem to happen when they tried to do that.

Marcus strapped her down to a table. He made sure she couldn't reach her weapons, she tried and failed. He grabbed a very large machine and dragged it over with the help of Zach. She then remembered what the Foot person had said not too long ago when they had first broken into the building. He used a ray of some sort on her brothers. Now he was going to use it on her.

"Hey guys," she said. "How's it going?" she asked, trying to bring them back for a little bit. It didn't seem to work. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously. "You're not really going to use that on me, are you?" she pressed. "That's not cool guys." She watched them set it up. "Come on." She tried to get her hands out. "Guy!" They started to press buttons making it light up. "Marcus." He ignored her. "Nathan?" she asked. Nothing. "Zack. Come on. Zack, it's me, Alex. You're lovable little sister that you care so much about and wouldn't turn into a minion."

That didn't get her anywhere either.

"Come on guys," she almost yelled. "Hey Unsub! You wouldn't do this, would you?" Nothing.

"Somebody say something," she cried out. She was on the verge of tears. She didn't want to become a Foot minion. "Please."

The last thing she remembered after the ray was turned on was pain. Horrible, burning, tingling, poking, bone snapping pain. Alex didn't scream very often. Maybe yell out a little, like with the glass incident, but not scream bloody murder. Well, the ray hurt so much she actually did. She didn't know if the whole city of New York could hear her, but she hoped someone did. Maybe they'd stop the horrible machine and get her out of there.

It felt like her bones were shattering. Her skin was being burned. Her muscles were being pulled off of her bones and her limbs were being pulled out of their sockets. Then, it felt like it was all put together again, very poorly and taken apart all together again.

She passed out after that.


	19. Lone Raph and Cub

**This one begins at the very end of "Lone Raph and Cub" when Raph leaved after dropping seeing the kid and mom at the police station. It's rather short and not the best I've ever done, but I just felt like I had to get this crappy one out and then get back to the better one. I'll try and get the next one out this week or weekend. Thanks. Please review and remember the thing about the chapter title for the next season. Thanks go out to: TMNTluckygirl, Kaaayyytteee and pokemonjkl for reviewing. I know I have a lot of other people who usually review, but I'm just putting the people I have gotten some from this chapter right now. Don't take it to heart. I always put the ones that review, these are just the ones I have right now. But thanks go out to everyone who ever reviewed or will review in the future.  
>Northie<strong>

Chapter 19  
>"Lone Raph and Cub"<p>

Alex didn't know where she was. She knew she was on something cold and hard. She knew it was concrete, but not if it was on the street of in something like a basement. It was rather uncomfortable and she didn't like it. She was in enough pain in the first placed. She felt like she couldn't move at all. Everything hurt, like when you get sick and you're all sore, but it seemed ten times worse. It was horrible.

Stupid ray thing.

She also didn't know how long ago that invasion had been. She couldn't have been out for too long could she? Maybe a night at most. She had never been out for longer than that. She may have wanted to be out more, but it almost seemed like her body wouldn't let herself do it. She just couldn't do it.

There was something bothering her other than the pain and not knowing where she was. She was in her right mind. Wasn't she supposed to be a Foot minion like her brothers after the "test" Shredder conducted on her? Wasn't she supposed to be an evil, red eyes ninja or something? Why wasn't she like that? Maybe they were just waiting for the effects to take effect. She was hoping they never would…

"Alex?" she managed to here a deep, rough voice say. She knew the voice right off the bat. It was Raph's voice, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She couldn't see anything. She figured her eyes were closed. She didn't have the energy to open them.

"Alex," he said. She felt a hand on her shoulder and shake her gently. She wished he wouldn't do that, it hurt. She groaned a little, but didn't say anything. She couldn't form words. "What happened to you? How'd you get here?" If she didn't answer before did he expect her to answer then? Because she wasn't going to.

"Come on," he said, picking her up as carefully as he could. She groaned in pain as he picked her up, but it didn't hurt as much when she was in position. But his grip on her was tight so he wouldn't drop her, but it hurt. She preferred him not dropping her though, so that pain she could deal with.

The trip back to the Lair was rather a long and painful one. All of the running, jumping and bouncing was rather painful. She didn't know how she was going to be able to stand it for much longer, but when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, they arrived at the Lair and she was placed against the very comfortable couch. Which really wasn't that comfortable, but it just seemed that way because the cold, hard ground was much more uncomfortable.

"Oh my," April's voice could be heard saying. "Alex. Oh my God, Alex."

"Go get Donny," Raph demanded. Footsteps could be heard running off. She assumed April did as she was told. "Don't worry, Alex. Donny'll fix you us good as new. You'll feel better in no time."

She already knew that was true. Donny was great, but really, she didn't know what was wrong with her. She didn't know how she looked or what injuries she had on her body. All that she could feel was the horrible pain from that terrible ray machine. All it really was was muscular pain. There wasn't much he could do other than give her pain killers and they really didn't have those. It wasn't like they just had the money laying around to go buy some and they couldn't steal it. That was against their morals.

She had to give Raph credit for trying to make her feel better though. It was sweet. It was nice to see the sweet, gentler side of Raph every once in a while. It was nice to be reminded that his strong, tough exterior wasn't all that was there. That was one of the things she liked most about him. He was one of those people who would do anything for the ones he loved. That and who didn't like the cool, mysterious, hot tough guy? Or mutant in his case…

A shot of pain when through her spin. She didn't know why, but it had been happening every since she woke up. She curved her back and clenched her fists. A blood curdling scream escaped her lips, no doubted everyone in the Lair could hear it. Well, if they didn't already know she was there, they did when she did that. That's one way of saying, "Honey, I'm home!"

"Would you turn the TV down?" Mikey yelled. "Oh." That was obvious the moment he realized Alex wasn't an actress on TV. She did have a perfect horror movie scream though. "What's wrong with her?" he asked. "Besides the obvious."

Well, that meant there were visible injuries that Alex didn't know about. The visible things weren't what were bothering her though. It was everything on the inside. It was as if her blood was fire, burning her while her bones felt like they were snapping in tiny pieces. The pain eased and Alex stopped screaming, but she knew it would most likely come back. That's what it had done all of the other times.

"I don't know," Raph replied. "Donny might, but I have no clue. I just found her that way when I was looking for Master Splinter."

_Looking for Splinter?_ Alex asked herself. _What's wrong? What happened? Where'd he go? What did I miss? _Alex was freaking out. Was this partially her fault? If she hadn't been taken then maybe she could have stopped whatever happened? What did happen to Splinter? Was he missing? He was a giant rat, how hard could it be to find him?

"What happened to Alex?" Leo asked. She hadn't heard him arrive.

"What do you think?" Raph retorted. "It was the Shredder. Remember Alex went missing. She's been gone for two days."

_TWO DAY!_ She mentally screamed in her head. _I've never been out for that long! How come nobody found me? How haven't they found Splinter yet?_

Alex wanted to sit up and try to shake off what was wrong with her. She had to help them find Splinter. She couldn't just lay there. It wasn't in her nature. She couldn't just stay there while he could be badly hurt and dying. It wasn't right. She had to do _something_.

Alex squeezed shut even tighter her eyes as she tried to sit up. All she really managed to do was lift her head off of the pillow a little though. She didn't get far. She groaned and tried to sit up again after she had her head fall back onto the pillow, to only get the same result. She tried one more time, but felt a hand gently lay her had back down on the pillow.

"Stay down Alex," Donny told her. "You not in any condition to get up."

_But_… What condition was she in really? She couldn't tell. She couldn't _see_ herself. She knew she felt like crap, worse than crap even. She just wanted to go back to sleep, but the people around her were making too much noise and Donny examining her was rather painful. She wouldn't have been able to.

"Alex," Donny said, opening on of her eyes and checking for who knows what (Well, Donny did and so do doctors, but that's beside the point). It was rather bright. She whined and managed to move away, shutting her eyes. She could hear Donny sigh. "You have to hold still. I have to check this."

So, she let him put her in pain. It wasn't fun. She didn't like it. But she did it anyways like a good girl. She hated doctors. That's why she never went to them and made sure to stay healthy and tried not to get hurt often. Look how well she was doing! After he was done with her head, he checked her arms and legs. Overall, she was fine besides a lot of bruises. Or so she was told. All she could feel was pain.

"Would you get her a blanket?" Donny asked someone. "We shouldn't move her. Not until she can open her eyes and stop hurting with ever touch."

She wanted to hit him for that. She hated feeling weak and vulnerable. This wasn't helping. She didn't like the guys seeing her like this. They shouldn't have to take care of her. She used to be able to take care of herself. She used to have her parents to take care of her. She used to have her brothers to take care of her. They didn't really have to, but she liked knowing that they were there if she needed them to be. Now they weren't. Her parents were dead and her brothers were in a minion like state.

The guys were close friends of hers. She didn't like them seeing her weak. She wanted to be strong for them. To show them _she_ was there for _them_. She wasn't a baby. She didn't need to be taken care of anymore. They shouldn't have to take care of her. They had their own things to worry about. They should be finding Splinter or something. Not taking care of her.

Another shot of pain shot through her body. She screamed out again, louder than the first. The pain was more intense than the last one. She clenched her hands into fists. Her eyes were shut even tighter than they already were. Her toes curled. Her back arched. Her whole body shook. Tears ran down her face.

"Alex," Leo's voice said sadly when she stopped screaming.

She didn't know if he was going to continue or not, or if he even did. She passed out so she couldn't be sure.

o-0-o

Alex could feel something running through her hair as she woke up. She laid in the spot she was in for a moment before opening her eyes for the first time on her own in three days. She could see a tired looking April sitting next to her. She looked so tired, scared and weak. Alex didn't like it. April should have a smile on her face or at least a scowl if she was talking to Casey.

"April," Alex said in a hoarse voice. Her throat was very dry. She was thirsty and very hungry.

"Alex," she said shocked. A smile grew on her face. "How are you feeling?"

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Like crap," Mikey said, walking up behind April and sat down next to her.

"I feel like that," she replied. "Can I have some water?"

"Mikey," April said, "Get her some water."

Usually Mikey would protest to being bossed around, but he went without a word. When Mikey was gone, Alex took a look at her arms and what not. Her arms had various bruises on them. Most of which were very dark and large. She had them everywhere. She could only guess what her face looked like. Although, when she touched her face, it didn't hurt, so there was a possibility that she was okay there.

"You're right Mikey," Alex said when he got back. "I look like crap."

'What happened to you, Alex?" April asked concerned.

She didn't answer right away. She had flashbacks about the conversation she had with the Shredder and then the ray. How her brothers wouldn't listen to her pleas. How they put her in so much pain, mentally and physically. She didn't know what she was going to do. What had happened to her brothers? What about the Shredder? Was he gone, again…?

"It's not important," she said. She was going to ask some questions but was interrupted by April. She should have seen that coming a mile away.

"Not important?" she said angrily. "Look at yourself, Alex. You could have been killed! How do you think I'd explain that to the authorities?"

Alex's head was throbbing. Something in her just seemed to snap at what April said. Mainly the last part. She stood up quickly, slightly surprising not only herself, but the people who had gathered around after hearing April yelling. "Is that all? You were worried about getting in trouble? So my safety isn't important to you, is it? I'm just something that you got shoved when your brother died, huh? I'm just a burden, am I?"

Alex was beyond mad, for some odd reason. "I'm taking a shower," she said without looking at Alex. She went and grabbed some clothes and when straight into the bathroom. She could feel the people around her starring at her as she went by, but she didn't care. She just wanted a shower.

She turned on the water and waited a minute for it to get hot. She placed her clothes on the sink and looked at her face. What shocked her wasn't the lack of bruising on her face nor was it that her hair looked like a rats nest. It was that her eyes had changed color. She could have sworn her eyes were green from the time she was born. Now they were almost a glowing red color.

Her brothers had glowing red eyes.

She shook her head trying to get the thought of becoming like them out. When she looked back up, they were back to their normal shade of green. She almost thought she had imagined it, but she knew better. She didn't have a wild imagination. She wasn't much of a creative person. Her eyes _had_ been red. That wasn't a good sign.

She tried to forget about it all as she stepped into the shower. It was rather hot, just the way she liked it. Alex stood there a minute just trying to relax with the water running down her. But she couldn't get away from her thoughts. Her brothers were very mean now that they were minions. Alex had just snapped at April for being concerned, even though it had come out wrong.

Alex really did feel bad about what she said to April. But she couldn't help but think it was slightly true. Some of it, anyways. Maybe she had just been dumped on April without a second thought. Of course Alex knew April cared for her, but were the things she was giving up by taking her in? She no longer had just herself to worry about. She had Alex too. She had to share the apartment, her money, food, everything.

I really don't want to be one of those minions, she thought to herself. Who knows, maybe the Shredder was taken care of by the guys. I still haven't talked to them about that. Although, if they did, then why aren't my brothers back? And then why would Splinter be missing?

Alex sighed to herself as she got out of the shower. She quickly got dressed and headed out of the bathroom to go apologize to April and asked the guys about what happened during their raid. _This'll be interesting._

8


	20. Search for Splinter Part 1

**Chapter 20 9is out! Yeah! I'm getting back into the swing on things. Please review and tell me what you think the next seasons title should be. Thanks guys.  
>Thanks to: TMNTluckygirl, yesiamweird and everyone else who reads this. Thanks guys. You're the best. <strong>

Chapter 20  
>"The Search for Splinter"<br>Part 1

Alex was standing next to April a week after she had snapped at her. They had made up after Alex approached her after her shower. There were no hard feelings at all. They both knew it had been a stressful time on the other and they both cared deeply for one another. They just needed to take a deep breath, talk and relax. A girl could only take so much in her life. No matter how weird or normal it was.

However, Donny had been concerned about Alex's change in eye color, which seemed everyone had noticed when she lost her temper. He checked them out and ran a couple tests to only find out nothing was wrong. He was still curious about them, but dropped it seeing as he couldn't find anything scientifically wrong with them. Alex was glad he dropped it, at least.

She hadn't told them about what had happened when she was taken though. She had found out Leo decapitated the Shredder. He was dead. There was nothing to worry about. So, there really wasn't a _need_ to tell them Shredder tried to turn her into a minion like her brothers and the mystery guy who were the Elite Ninja, which none of them knew three of them were her brothers except for Leo. That was best kept to herself at the moment. She'd tell them if she needed to.

Other than that, she was getting better. Her injuries healed surprisingly quickly. The bruises were all almost gone. There was one problem though. The headaches were still there. They were just like the one she had gotten right before snapping at April. Angry thoughts would come into her head when she got the headaches, but she learned to hold back the comments and patiently wait for the headache to go away. She hadn't told them about the headaches either, but Alex seemed to notice every time she got a headache, her eyes would change color. She'd have to rub them or close them to get them to go back to the right color. It was just odd.

"Okay," April said. "We've searched Shredder's building." She circled it on eth city map on the table in front of her in red marker. "And every other place the Foot have been encountered. We've scoured ever sewer tunnel, back street and dark alley in the city with only one area left." Almost the entire map was covered in red marks.

"The worst part is," Donny began, "We don't even know if Master Splinter is still…" he trailed off.

"I don't even want to think about that," Mikey said.

"Until we learn otherwise he's alive and awaiting our rescue," Leo said.

"I'm done coming home empty handed," Raph called after he poured all of the sand out of the munching bag he had been using. "We find Splinter _tonight_."

o-0-o

While the guys and April looked around the city for Splinter, Alex was stuck doing homework. While they had been staying at Casey's Grandmother's place in the North Hamptons, they had enrolled Alex in school so she wouldn't miss anything. So when they moved back she was enrolled in her old school again. She had homework, which sucked. She couldn't go out looking for Splinter with homework. _April wouldn't let her_.

But she had finished her homework and had gotten hungry. Since Mikey and the guys usually ate all the food in the lair and April's place didn't have any either, she was forced to go eat out. She simply just grabbed a piece of pizza and ate it on her way back to the apartment. The apartment had been rebuilt and had two knew rooms in it. It was just in case the guys came back to them. Then they'd have enough room for them.

Alex was worried and not just for Master Splinter. When she had gone back to school she had gotten some disturbing news. Apparently, Fred hadn't been in school. That was very unlike him he would get perfect attendance every year. He took pride in that. It was just weird. Was he sick? She wished she knew. They said he was gone for a long time too. For a couple months even.

Alex stopped instantly when she was the Battle Shell in the corner of her eye. She turned curiously with the pizza hanging in her hand. She walked over to the truck and tapped on the window, making Donny, who was sitting in the passenger side, jump. She hinted for them to open the back to let her in. Mikey opened the door for her and she climbed in.

"What's up buttercup?" she asked.

They filled Alex in on what they were doing. Apparently they suspected the Guardians to have Master Splinter. They were able to track one of them and had followed him to the TCRI building which stood for Techno Cosmic Research Institute. Alex used to pass the place on her way from getting pizza all the time. Her favorite place was just around the corner. They had placed a little turtle cam inside the building and were looking around.

"Here's a new wrinkle," Donny said. That just sounded funny coming out of his mouth.

"I don't get it," Raph said, as they all looked at the logo of TCRI.

"_Techno Cosmic Research Institute_," Donny repeated.

"So," Leo said.

"Yeah," Raph added.

"Huh?" Mikey asked confused.

Donny rolled his eyes and said, "Say the first letter of each word."

"What?" Mikey said. "T-C-R-I. Sorry, it's not ringing any _bells_." He sounded as if he was coming to a sudden realization about something that Alex and April were clueless about. It must have been before her time.

"T-C-R-I," Raph said. "That's the-the."

"The-the-the," Mikey also stammered.

"_The_ what?" April asked. "Tell me."

"It'd be rather helpful Leo," Alex said. She asked Leo since she was standing next to him. He was the closest.

"T-C-R-I was printed on the canister of ooze that mutated us into what we are," he said.

"I'm glad it did," Alex muttered mainly herself. "Otherwise we wouldn't have met you."

"The secret to our origin could very well lye in the walls that building," Donny said, making the moment even more dramatic than they already were. "Okay," he said. "Let's snoop around." He started to move the joystick of the little remote controlled turtle cam and it walked. "Ah, you guys are sucking the oxygen right out of my personal space here."

Leo, Raph, Mikey, Alex and April had all been leaning over and looking over his shoulder at the little screen. They all muttered 'sorry' to him and moved away, but then quickly moved back to watch. Donny didn't seem to notice or if he did, he didn't let on to anything. He was just concentrating on moving the turtle through the halls.

They came to a door that said "Security" on it. "Jackpot," Donny said. "The security control room. The brains to their security system."

"Can you look under that door to see what we're up against?" Leo asked.

"I think so," Donny replied. He was able to get it under there to see someone walking over to it. "Uh oh." The door opened and the turtle cam spun around went flying across the floor. It hit the wall and continued to slide. When it finally got right side up, it got crushed by a cart.

"Poor little guy," Alex said. "He didn't have a chance."

"Now what?" April asked.

"Master Splinter might be in there," Leo said. "Answers we've been looking for our whole lives could be in there. So means we're going in there."

o-0-o

"Now, what exactly have we found out about TCRI?" Leo asked as everyone else sat on the couches looking at the television screens which had the TCRI building shown on it. "Apirl?"

"TCRI is a highly successful new technologies company that's been around for the past twenty-five years. And who's had corporately liaison is Mr. Merciless Mortu."

"These are the blue prints submitted to the cities planner office when the building was constructed," Leo said as the blue prints showed up on the television screens.

"Looks as boring on the inside as it does on the out," Mikey said.

"Here is some of what our cam shell recorded before it became road kill," April said. "Surveillance cameras cover the perimeter and the roof. All laced with alarm sensors."

"So what we need is someone smart, capable and techno savvy enough to get in find the alarm cut off and cut it off," Leo listed.

"Me!" Mikey yelled.

"No," Leo replied shaking his green head. "April."

"Me?" April asked.

"You'll sneak in past the guard, enter the security control room and deactivate the cameras and alarms."

"Okay," she said, very unsure of herself.

"Here's a schismatic of some basic security panels you're likely to find inside," Donny said, handing her a devise.

"Once the alarms are off you'll contact up on the shell sell and we'll gain access through the roof ventilation system."

"Makes total sense," April said, sounding slightly sarcastic.

"Of course it does," Alex said, not being the least bit sarcastic. She was following everything completely. What she didn't understand though, was why they were having April go in and not her. She was everything Leo had said they needed and if she got in trouble she could fight for herself. They always seemed to forget she had worked with Stockman too. She was smart.

"After we're in you'll reset the alarms and surveillance cameras and sneak back outside unnoticed," Donny said.

"It all rests on your shoulders girl," Mikey said. "No pressure."

"Ah huh," April said. "There's just a teeny tiny detail of that plan missing. There's a guard sitting right there!"

"We'll be employing an old ninja trick," Leo told her. Alex got curious that the sound of that. "The art of distraction." He pointed over to the door which had just opened and Casey walked in.

"Somebody call for a distraction?" he asked.

April shook her head and placed it in her hands. "My life is in the hands of a lunatic."

"Whoa!" Mikey yelled. He had gotten himself tangled in wiring he had been hanging on. "Somebody want to help me out here?"

"You get to work with Casey," Alex stated to April. "And I have to work with _that_."

Both looked at their partner and then to the other's. They looked at one another and both blurted out at the same time, "Good luck!"

o-0-o

While April was inside along with Casey, the guys and Alex were walking across a wire from across the street over to the TCRI building. They were rather high up and didn't have any harnesses or nets to catch them if they fell. It was dangerous, thrilling and completely crazy to do if you weren't a trained acrobat or a ninja, like they were.

The lineup went Donny, Leo, Raph, Mikey and Alex. They made it over to the other side when April called in over the head sets Donny was wearing and Alex was wearing. April had slipped one to Alex before they left thinking that if she needed any help, she'd be there along with Donny to help. At least _she_ remembered Alex had a brain.

"Guys, this isn't going to work," April said.

"What's the problem, April?" Donny asked.

"I don't recognize the technology," she replied. "Nothing makes sense in here. I can't turn off the roof alarms or the cameras."

"Anybody got a plan B?' Mikey asked, pointing to the camera not too far away.

"April," Donny said. "We'll handle the camera just get the alarm turned off anyway you can."

"Whatever," she muttered more to herself. "Just don't come whining to me if we all get captured and tortures and stuff."

"Wouldn't be the first for me," Alex said.

The guys looked at her strangely. "What? It wouldn't!" _Oops, I forgot they didn't know about the torture at the Foot place when Zack got me out_. "Anywho!"

"Guys, you're good to go," April said.

"That was faster than I thought it'd be," Alex said.

Donny had brought a pidgin puppet and had put it in front of the camera to make it look like it was flying in front of it while Leo took a picture with a Polaroid camera to place in front of the camera. Why Donny brought a camera with him, Alex didn't know, but it seemed to come in handy at that moment. When it would come in handy again was another mystery.

"Hurry with that picture," Donny told Leo.

"Got it," Leo said, walking over to Donny and placing it in front of the camera. Donny let the bird go and it looked like a regular rooftop. No ninja turtles or ninja girl whatsoever. The plan was actually going smoothly. _Knock on wood_…

"I don't know what bothers me more," Mikey said. "That this thing actually works or that Don carries around a pidgin puppet."

"It is rather strange," Alex muttered. "But don't worry Donny; we love you all the same." She gave him a side hug and pulled him over to the vent where they were supposed to sneak into. "Better get back to work."

Raph jumped up on top of the vent and kicked off the top so they could get in. "Hey," he said, looking down it. "This is a fake. It doesn't go nowhere. What kind of people would put a fake vent on the roof?"

"The kind that wants this place to look normal," Donny replied, answering his question.

"So now what?" Mikey asked.

"That's a very good question Mikey," Alex said, looking over the edge of the building at the windows.

"We cut through a window," Leo said.

"Hey!" Alex protested. "That was my idea, Leo. It's not nice to steal. But if you must, be my guest because great minds think alike."

"You're very talkative today, Alex," Mikey said.

"I'm in a good mood," she stated. "I think I needed a thing like this to get me back into the swing of things, as oddly as that sounds."

o-0-o

The guys and Alex had pulled out suction cup things to put on their hands and feet so they'd be able to scale the side of the building. Once they got down to a good place, Donny pulled out a machine he had built to cup open glass. It stuck itself to the window while a blade came out and circles around it to try to cut it open.

"Diamond edged blades and they're not even scratching the surface," Donny said.

"Where'd you get diamonds?" Alex asked curiously. "And why didn't you give me any? You do know diamonds are a girls best friends right?" She got Mikey to laugh.

"This is no ordinary window glass," Donny said.

"We better think of something," Raph said as they started to scale up the building to the roof again. "Cause who knows how long that bat happy idiot in the lobby can keep it up."

"Ah fellas," they heard Casey's voice say over the head sets. "I've got a newsflash for you. Things are not what they seem in here."

"Just keep them busy Casey," Raph said back to him. "How tough can a couple of guards be?"

"I think I'm about to find out," he said.

"April, the roof and windows are a no go," Donny said to April.

"You want another way in?" she asked.

"Yes please," Alex said.

"No problem," April replied. "This things a piece of cake." It was silent for a moment while she looked. "Here we go. There's some sort of exhaust opening on the west side. Ninth floor."

"We'll check it out," Leo said. "Thanks."

They all made their way to the west side of the build, ninth floor. After a while of scaling buildings like that, it got you really tired. Alex was starting to feel her arms and legs ache. It wasn't terrible, just like you needed a nap or something. It was really cool though. She was going to have to ask Donny if she could keep them and practice more. They were sick.

"There's nothing here," Raph said as they came to the only window they hadn't checked. They call surrounded it and looked at it curiously. Alex never thought she'd be _that_ interested in a window in her life. You learn something new every day, especially when you're around the turtles.

"Hold on," Leo said. "Here that? Air's coming out." He put his hand out in front of it. "You can feel it too."

"Amazing," Alex and Donny both said at the same time. Alex giggled while Donny continued to talk. "Maybe it's some sort of hologram.

"Yeah, finally," Mikey said. "A way in." Mikey put his hand on it, despite his brother's warnings, and got sucked in half way. His top half went in while the other half was still on the outside. He yelled and pulled himself out very quickly. Without much other warning, a blue ball of something unknown to Alex shot out after Mikey just made it out.

However, he was unable to stay balanced and fell. Donny tried to grab onto him, but that just pulled him off along with Mikey. They both started to fall towards the ground yelled. They were going to die.

To be continued….

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	21. Search for Splinter Part 2

**The last chapter in season one! I hope you've like this seasons story. The next season is in Here One Second, Gone The Next. Thank you TMNTluckygirl for the name. I love it.  
>I'd like to thank Jess Marylin, kaaayyytteee and yesiamweird.<br>Please check out the next story. Thank guys. Review still please. Tell me what you think.  
>Northie<strong>

Chapter 21  
>"Search for Splinter"<br>Part 2

Mikey and Donny were falling nine stories down off of a building that they had been scaling with Leo, Raph and Alex. There was nothing Alex, Leo or Raph could do to help them. They just had to hope for the best they thought of something that could save their lives before they…well, became green pancakes on the street below.

Suddenly, Donny kicked off of Mikey to the wall. The suction cup things on his knees and feet stuck. He stuck his staff out so Mikey could swing one of his nun chucks around it. Which he did. It swung him over to the wall and stuck him there, like Donny. They were one floor away from being pancakes. They were talking to one another throught the whole event, but the beings on the ninth floor windows couldn't hear them.

Alex sighed, letting the breath she had been holding in out. "That was too close for my preference," Alex said to the two turtles with her while she watched the other two start to make their way back up the building. "Let's not do that again."

"I'm with you on that," Raph said.

"April," Alex said. "We need you to turn off the trap in the hall where the hologram is."

"Say that again," she said quietly.

"There a booby trapped hologram covering the ninth floor exhaust port," Leo said so Alex didn't have to. "It's active and the only way inside. Can you shut it down?"

"Uh," she stammered. "Stand by."

The window suddenly got a hole in it. The window hologram had been shut down. April had done it. They all made their way up and into the hallway. The hallway was strange looking, to say the least. "Thanks April," Alex said. They may have been in a tight spot, but she still remembered to be polite.

"Let's move," Leo said.

With his order, they all ran down the hall, following Leo. They stopped where the lazar thing had been. Why they stopped, Alex didn't know. She thought Leo had said to _keep_ moving. Not _stop_ moving. She stopped with them anyways.

"We're in, April," Donny said.

"Great guys," she said. They could hear a lot of commotion going on after that. April could be heard talking to Casey and Casey's voice came through the head set too. They had gotten into some trouble.

Alex looked around at her friends nervously. She was scared. She didn't want anything to happen to them. April wasn't as tough as Casey. She couldn't fight like he could. What if something happened to her? What would she do? She just hoped she was okay.

"Hey," Leo started, "Are you guys safe?"

"Barely," April said, causing Alex to sigh in relief. "Listen guys, there's more to this place than meets the eye."

"Like Transformers?" Alex joked, trying to make the situation a little lighter. Mikey laughed.

April's voice started to come in and out. The head set wasn't getting a signal. "April?" Leo asked. "April?" When she didn't respond, Leo continued. "We lost her."

"My guess is they have some kind of signal dampener in here," Donny said.

"Guys shhh," Raph shushed. He pointed to an open duct.

They all ran over and looked down to see a guy pushing a cart with six containers of stuff on it. They were closed and had no labeling so they couldn't know what was in them. They waited till be walked by and was far enough away where they could jump down into the hall. Leo lifted up the cover and jumped down first. He was followed by Raph, who ran off in a different direction than Leo, Donny who when the same way Leo did, Mikey and then Alex. They had just enough time to hide before the guy walking turned around.

He turned back around and into a door which shut behind him. Everyone cam e out of there hiding places and ran off to the door the guys had gone into. Leo opened it and looked in for a moment before pushed it open and going in with the other behind him. They walking in and not ran. They were rather confused.

The room was small. There were four doors, including the one they had walking in from. There was a door across from them, a door to their left and a door to their right. They had no idea which way the guy had done. Alex sighed. If this was how there night was starting, it was going to be a _long_ one.

"This'll be _fun_," Alex muttered quietly.

Mikey walked over and opened to the door to their left. "Huh?" he muttered. Alex could see it was a room that looked exactly like the one they were in. "Déjàvu. It's just like this one."

"Scout this floor and meet back here in five," Leo told everyone.

Alex chose to tag along with someone, that way she wouldn't get lost. She when along with Raph. They went into one room and then turned to the door left of them and went in. They both walked in and turned around; looking around the identical room of the last two rooms they had been in. They turned back around to see Mikey. Alex just shook her head and followed Raph through another door. They went into another and then another.

They all somehow ended up into the hallway they had originally come in from. Alex was confused, along with the mutants around her. She shook her head and wanted to scream. It hadn't been the first time that the feelings like that had come to Alex. They were some of the moments when her eyes turned red. She could lose control like had done at April, but she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then let the breath out. Her eyes had gone back to normal. She wondered how long that was going to last. She had been hit by the ray almost two weeks before. She wondered if the affects would get worse like her brothers, but she really didn't want them to. She was doing very well with controlling it though. Her brother, when they had gone to see her the day Leo had been almost killed, seemed to have a harder time controlling it. She was doing far better than they were.

"Okay, that was weird," Mikey said.

"Agreed," Alex said.

"I feel like a lab rat looking for cheese," Raph said.

"Now I know how the Mousers felt when Stockman was testing them," Alex said.

"It's like this is designed just to keep people going in circles," Donny said.

A noise could be heard from in front of them. They all ran into a room that Leo had picked and shut the door as another person pushing another cart came in. They kept the door open to listen. This time, there were two people together and talking. Maybe they could get some information on them.

"Just be glad we weren't on security detail tonight," the blonde said.

"Why?" the brunette asked.

"They had some nutcase smashing up the lobby over a toaster," the blonde laughed.

"Oh so that's why they're all reporting to decontamination," the brunette also laughed. "Poor slobs."

Raph opened the door and walked out after they walked by. They looked around for where they went, but knowing the place, that meant they were gone. It was like finding a needle in a hay stack.

"Mikey and I can see where that elevator goes," Donny said.

"Good," Leo said. "Then Alex, Raph and I will ghost those two."

Leo, Raph and Alex ran off down the hall. They actually did find the two workers with ease despite what Alex had thought earlier. They followed the two workers through door after door and hallway after hallway. It was shocking that they could actually find their way in that maze. They turned down a hallway the ninja waited a moment before looking down the hall.

Raph, Leo and Alex looked down it, to see it was a dead end, but there wasn't anybody down there. They looked at one another confused. "Where'd they go?" Raph asked.

"You got me," Alex told him as Leo walked over to the wall.

Leo walked over and pulled out one of his katana. He stuck it through the wall. Although, it wasn't actually a wall. It was a hologram like the window they had come through, although they didn't get shot at this time. It was just a secret passageway. Alex wasn't even shocked anymore. This place was just weird. Next they'd end up finding aliens or something. Yeah, that's believable.

"Holographic but without the booby-trap," Leo said.

"Than let's do it," Raph said.

Raph and Leo walked through at the same time leaving Alex on the other side. "I love how they don't ask me." With that little comment, she walked through the hologram to the other side where the guys were. When she walked out the other side she ran into Leo and Raph, who had stopped to look around. "Sorry."

They walked a little further up to see the two men in a large room unloading the cargo they had been moving. Leo, Raph and Alex hid around the corner and watched them to see if they could find anything else out about the place. Earlier they were talking about decontamination because they touched Casey. Alex almost didn't want to know what "decontamination" they were talking about was. Yet, she did want to know what it was. She was a rather curious girl.

The blonde guy walked over to a computer and pressed a button. He then said, "Okay, decontamination lines have been refilled." The two men then walked off in the other direction and left. The guys and Alex ran out of where they were hiding and into the strange room. Well, Alex was going to find out what decontamination was if she liked it or not. They hid behind something really weird. Alex had no idea what it was. Let's just leave it at that.

"I hate to think what these clowns have done to Master Splinter," Raph said.

"We don't even know if he's here," Leo said.

"Oh he's here all right," Raph said. "I can feel it."

"Don't fight with your gut feelings," Alex said getting the attention of the two guys she was partnered with. "Trust me. I know." Leo looked at her knowingly. He really was the only one, other than Master Splinter who knew about her brother. He knew she used to have the feeling they were alive when she had no idea and all of the other times when she felt something. Raph was a little confused. He made a mental note to ask about it later. But for now, he pushed it aside.

"Attention!" a robotic voice said over a speaker system that Alex didn't know about. By the looks on Raph and Leo's faces, they didn't know about it either. They all listened intently to what it was saying. "This is an intruder alert. All search protocols are in effect. We have a breach. Repeat; we have a breach."

"That's not good," Raph said.

"Not one bit," Alex added. "I knew this smooth sailing wouldn't last too long. It never does with us."

"Come on," Leo said. "We have to move."

Leo got up and started to run off in a random direction. Alex looked to Raph and shrugged, he had done the same thing. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her along as he started to run off. He didn't let go as they caught up to Leo and looked around a hallway corner to see if it was clear. Raph finally let go of Alex's wrist, but not before Alex saw Leo looking at their hands.

_That was weird_, Alex thought. _First, Raph grabs my wrist without much reason. I was going to follow anyways. Then, Leo stares at him holding my wrist. What's up with them tonight?_ She was about to continue on with that thought, but stopped when she got a cautious feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had Goosebumps or how her mother used to call them, goosepimpes (I saw that in a movie once, I don't remember where though).

Alex turned around because of the feeling she had and saw three weird pink, organ alien things flying on little machines at them. "I so called that," she muttered to herself. "Hey, guys. We've got company." _I so called aliens earlier. I'm good_.

"What the?" Raph said.

"Uh oh," Leo said.

"They don't look very friendly," Alex sang, in a way Mikey might. One of the three aliens shot lazars at them. "Holy crap. Move, move now!"

Leo, Raph and Alex ran as three more aliens joined in on the shooting. The three new ones were in robot things that looked like people. They were placed in the middle, where the stomach was supposed to be. They were controlling them from there. They had lazar guns too. They were all shooting blue lazar lights at them.

"My life is straight out of a cartoon, sifi movie or TV show," Alex said as they ran. "I swear. Teenage mutant ninja turtles, evil ninja people who won't die, brothers being kidnapped and brainwashed into trying to kidnap me and trying to kill my friends and now being chased by aliens! My life is _so_ messed up!"

"Not the time, Alex!" Leo yelled.

"Did I just say that all out loud?" she asked. "Oops. That wasn't supposed to happen."

"You're brothers work for," Leo cut Raph off.

"Not the time, Raph!" Leo yelled again.

They kept running and came to a fork in the road. There were two different hallways they could choose from. They stopped for a moment. Leo was the one to choose. "This way!" He grabbed onto Raph's wrist with one hand while he grabbed one of Alex's with his other hand. He pulled them down on of the halls right when they were about to be blasted. That was lucky.

Leo let go of Raph's wrist while he kept holding onto Alex's. Alex noticed, but didn't really pay any mind to it at the moment. She was too focused on getting away from the aliens trying to shoot them. That seemed a little more important than how strange the two brother turtles were acting.

They ran into a very large, strange room, but didn't have any time to look around it. The aliens were right behind them. Leo and Alex tackled two of the robot ones to the ground. One each. Before Alex had the chance to do anything more, the two robots got up and ran at her. Leo kicked both of them before Alex could. He took one of the strange blue electric tazar things there were carrying and through it across the room at one of the robot that was about to attack Raph. It lodged itself in its knee and electrocuted the robot, but it shook it off and stood back up as Leo and Alex got to Raph's side.

"We take them out, but they keep coming," Raph said as they started to back up.

They backed up to a door and it opened. Donny and Mikey were standing there behind them on the other side of the door. Alex saw never more glad to see them. "Fancy meeting you here," Mikey said.

"This say," Donny said, leading them into the hallway away from the approaching aliens.

They continued to shoot at them as they ran. They came to another door and room. There was a large, stange thing next to the door on the inside of the room. Mikey and Donny pushed it over as the aliens got there. It didn't land on them, just blocked their way from getting in. They were safe for the moment, at least.

"This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Alex said as she looked at the strange containment units that held aliens in them.

"Matrix city," Mikey said.

"What is this place?" Raph asked. "A morgue?"

"I hope not," Leo said. "Because look." He pointed to one of the containment units. "Master Splinter."

"Oh my," Alex said. "He's not wearing any clothes." The last part was mainly only to herself. Nobody else heard it.

They all ran over to it to get a better look. Donny took a look at the monitor thing it had in front of the unit. He stood there for a moment thinks and gathering information. Alex jumped up there with him and started to look it over as well.

"Oh man," Mikey said. "Is he-is he?" He couldn't finish what he was saying.

"I don't think so," Donny said.

"I don't think any of them are," Alex added.

"From what I can tell," Donny continued, "This looks like some kind of bio-suspension unit. He's probably in stases."

"Then let's cut him out!" Raph said, taking out his weapons.

"Wait!" Leo said, stopping Raph. "We might do more harm than good."

"Leo's right," Don said. "We don't understand with technology."

"We can't just leave him in there," Mikey protested. "Don, figure something out!"

"Okay," he said, sounding pressured. "Just, uh, just give me a minute to study this."

The whole place almost seemed to shake. The aliens had managed to get through the barricade Donny and Mikey had put up. They stood there for a moment while one of them warned them about something, but it was rather hard to hear them all the way across the room. Then they started to shoot at them.

Everyone was able to jump out of the way in time, but just by a couple seconds. "Holy crap!" Alex said mainly to herself. "Are we ever going to get a break from those aliens?" _Nope_, she thought.

Two of new robotic people who seemed to have joined the group ran after a lone Alex. They both had lazar guns. She jumped out of the way as they shot, mainly by flipping, which sort of made her dizzy. She landed in front of one of them and kicked the gun out of his hands and then kicked him in the face, sending him flying. She turned around and was about to go after the other one, but he shot her. She got hit in the stomach and managed to hold in a cry of pain. She landed on her back, clutching her stomach. The guy walked up to her with the gun pointed at her. He was close enough where she could kick his feet out from under him. He fell to the ground and dropped the dun, but it went off on its own and shot Alex in the same spot she had been shot in the first time. It was even more painful the second time around. That time, she couldn't hold in a screech.

Alex looked up to see one of the flying aliens going out of control. He was flipping and the lazar thing seemed to be stuck. It was shooting off every which way, one of course, hitting Alex in the stomach for the third time. She felt the pain, but it didn't seem to get any worse feeling than she already felt it.

When she managed to get back to her feet, she looked up in time to see Donny jump in front of the lazar that was going towards Splinter's unit. He was hit straight on and sent frying into another room. Alex screamed out, "Donny!" She ran in the direction he was in, ignoring the pain. He had landed on the steps of some machine. She sat down next to him and looked to find a pulse. He was breathing and his heart rate was normal, that she could tell. "Donny? Come on, Don. Wake up."

Leo, Mikey and Raph soon came in after Alex. They started to pick him up and move him onto the machine he had landed on to try to back up and get away. But a strange man walked in and started to yell at them, making them stop and look up.

"Stop!" he cried. "Listen to me! You must get off of there immediately."

For some reason, Alex trusted the guy. He seemed true and genuine. "I think we should listen to the man or alien, whichever he is." She tried to move, but her feet were stuck to the machine. "This can't be good."

"I can't move my feet," Mikey called out, panicked.

A really bright light started to come from one side of the machine. Alex looked at it for a moment and then back to the man who had warned them. He had ran to the computer part of the machine and tried to stop it from continuing whatever it was it was doing. She really didn't know if he was trying to stop it, but she had the feeling he was.

"I can't stop it!" he called out to them. "It's too late."

Then Alex felt something strange. It almost felt like she was being taken apart molecularly and moved. She couldn't remember anything else but a bright light and then nothing.

To be continued in season two. Please check out, Here One Second, Gone The Next. The next installment of Alex O'Neil's Saga.

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